Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Workin' The System

We made it to the library today for the first time in a long time. It has been closed due to snow for the last week or so. We returned some books that were due today and I wanted to recheck one of the books. When we went to check out the woman at the front desk said that one of the dvds that we had just checked out was on hold so we probably wouldn't be able to recheck it. Odd, if it was on hold then why were we able to check it out? Then when it came to rechecking my book the lady said I couldn't recheck it because I'd already rechecked it once online. Then she asked if I wanted to keep it. What? She told me it was due today. She told me I wasn't allowed to recheck it. Why would I want to keep it? I'd incur 25 cents a day in fines! After repeatedly saying that I didn't want to keep the book or write down the page number I was on, I was able to convince the lady that I was just going to leave the book.

On the way out of the library Ross and I were lamenting the dumb library policy of not being able to recheck a book twice, but we could check out a book that someone had on hold. I was a little bummed because I only had like 20 pages left in the book. Then I suddenly had this idea. What if they have another copy of the book? Our library has multiple copies of almost every book. We marched back into the library and quickly looked up the book (cause they were about to close). The online card catalog is terrible. We looked up the book by the title and it didn't show up at all. We had to look up the book online and then search by the author's name. Our library has three copies. I went and found a copy on the shelf and checked it out at the nifty self check out. I was so pleased with myself. I found a way around their dumb policy and now I can finish the book.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

you had your thinking cap on. Good for you.

Nicole said...

I keep forgetting that libraries even exist. I actually have one within easy walking distance from my house yet I never pay it any mind. I think I'll start going there now that I'm trying to read more.