Today I have decided to do a terrible thing. In the scheme of things, it’s not particularly bad, but it does break the trust of a relationship.
I have actively decided not to return a book to the library on time. And someone else is waiting for it.
The book is a bit obscure–it not like Elizabeth Gilbert’s latest, Committed, which had a waiting list of 78 people when I reserved it (if not more, I just know 78 people were ahead of me). And, to make matters worse, I already extended checkout of the book–the first time because I had checked out too many books to handle while traveling over the holidays and the second because I just wasn’t finished.
My reading has been a bit lazy this past month and with a hundred pages left, I didn’t think it would be a problem to extend the checkout period one more time. Except someone else decided that they too would like to read about the history of walking and added Wanderlust by Rebecca Solnit to their reserve list.
Wanderlust‘s checkout period ends for me tonight. Those few pages should be manageable, however, regardless of whether or not I returning it tomorrow morning or Wednesday morning (I have yoga tomorrow night and won’t be anywhere near the library), I’m still stuck paying a fine. Early on in my reading, I considered buying a copy, but further on feel it’s one not necessary to my collection. A dollar or two in fines is negligible compared to the $23.99 should I actually buy it.
I’m not particularly pleased with what I’m doing. If I were on the waiting end of the book, I wouldn’t be too happy with someone hanging onto it longer than their allotted time and forcing me to wait, nor would I be pleased if I were the library having to deal with the late return and fining process (which, while I will pay immediately, isn’t always paid by some patrons). It’s an inconvenience to all other parties in order to accommodate myself because it’s not that I forgot when I had to return the book; I am choosing to delay return.
People like me, who decide we don’t ever do this are messing with how the organization of lending books operates. I’m curious as to what other people think of my bad behavior and what one should do if they need an extra night to finish a book past the original return date (we can just ignore that fact that I’ve continually put off finishing Wanderlust during the two checkout periods I’ve had it in my possession).
Would you hang on to a book to finish it? Or would you return it and attempt to check it out to finish later?
How wrong is it for me to break the rules this way? It might not be a huge deal if one person does this occasionally, but what about when lots of people do this–some occasionally and others regularly?
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
I do this frequently especially if I’m almost done with the book. I check out way too many library books and get behind frequently.
I know it’s not nice to the person waiting for the book but the library gets some money for me (in fines) to buy more books so I feel ok with the consequences.
Hmmm, tough call, I’d probably say “yes” I would hold onto the book; but now I’m feeling a little guilty after reading your post. You’re right, if everyone did that it would be a mess. But, not everyone does that so…considering that I bet you do a lot of good in the world (aside from this of course), I’m sure this won’t destroy you from a karmic standpoint. And something tells me that the next person on the list wouldn’t be able to make it to the library to check out the book the day you’re scheduled to return it. So, try not to lose any sleep. I’m pretty sure you’ll be pardoned, if there is someone or something that deals specifically with pardoning. Yeah, I’d finish it.
If you’re only keeping it one or two extra days in the middle of a week I think you’re ok. If it gets to be three or more days, or you’re keeping it over a weekend, I know I’d be pissed if I were the one waiting.
Imagine you’re about to go on a trip and you need to take a book with you for the plane. You put yourself on the waiting list for a book and notice it’s due Tuesday, so you figure you can pick it up Thursday evening, but the person before you doesn’t return it until Saturday when you’ve already left. :(
I think I’m rambling; did that make any sense?
I think holding it for an extra day or two isn’t a problem. But wait lists are one of the reasons I stopped reading library books. I often found myself on a long list for books I wanted to read, with no idea when I’d be able to read them. Then they’d become available when I was in the middle of another book, which I was then expected to drop so I could read the book that had just come in, because I had a precious two weeks to do so. That’s why I’m a huge fan of the used book market, because I have as long as I need to read something. And when I’m done, I pass it on to someone else.
I hate the NYPL online system. Basically, their system sucks.
There have been numerous times when I have requested a book that has 15 available copies and I just want one of them sent to my branch. Yet it puts it on hold for the “next returned item” and will never send me the freaking book. And, if I try to renew something online when someone else has put a copy on hold in the same manner I just explained, it won’t let me renew MY copy, even though there are 15 more available in the system to send to that person. I can’t count the number of times this system glitch has INFURIATED me!!!
Ok, vent done.
As to your question, just finish it and toss the NYPL a couple quarters. :)
.-= Kari´s last blog ..Review: The best and worst of times at college =-.
I’m certainly in the “don’t lose sleep over it” camp, probably mostly because of my own reading habits — always in the middle of several different books, and if I put myself on a waitlist, I’m unlikely to be checking ahead of time for THE DAY when I can get the book. i’ll read it when it shows up.
Then again, I work 2 blocks from the library, and an extra trip within a week is no big deal.
Well, good to know I won’t be judged for returning it late!
Kari, I’m am member of BPL – their system for reserving books isn’t too bad and they recently updated their website to a much better system. But we do have the same problem “next returned item” – there have been a few times where I’ve been waiting for a book only to find four copies on the regular shelves when I go to browse.
I do wish this could be a trade off – apparently they didn’t empty their return box one Saturday, so some books I dropped off didn’t get registered as returned until Sunday – a day late. I have a feeling they won’t go for it though.
Oh, and STILL not done the book. It’s not long but rather dense.
For some reason, this makes me think of traffic.
I live in Chicago, a city in which everyone drives like a moron. One of the more idiotic things they do involves traffic jam behavior. Say you have a freeway, four lanes in one direction, and say you have a popular exit off this freeway. This exit is backed up almost any time of day, and the backup stretches far down the highway. The other lanes are moving, though, so Chicago people who want the exit will dive past the backup, then shove themselves back into line at the exit, cutting in front of dozens of stopped cars and slowing the whole line down.
This leaves me with a daily quandrary, as I’m pretty good at shoving my way into lines of stopped traffic. So do I patiently wait my turn knowing that everyone else’s selfish behavior is slowing me down, or do I engage in the selfish behavior as well, thus delaying others? In many ways, I see the concept of waiting in line as a contract with society, one that does nothing less important than keep society functional. So do I maintain the contract or not?
Honestly, I’ve never decided one way or the other. Sometimes I’m a jerk, sometimes I’m good. But either way, I’m always left feeling troubled and annoyed.
I once tried to return a book before I finished it because I knew someone else was waiting for it and the LIBRARIAN told me to keep it and finish it “after all, it’s only 25 cents a day”…. So what does that tell you about librarians?