Library Cards

Parent Cafe
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<p>I know, right? I want more books to read, because I’m enjoying the mental escape, but think I will take the suggestion several people made here and go to a used bookstore. The thing is, a fiction paperback is done in pretty quickly - it doesn’t last long enough to make sense to pay for.</p>

<p>I don’t know what it is about libraries in my region. I’m remembering that some years ago a friend of mine in my home city told me her books were late, and one evening there was a knock at the door, she answered, and two women from the library were standing there. They’d come to demand her overdue books, which she surrendered immediately. Then, also a couple of years ago, in an adjacent county, there was a newspaper article about a woman who was arrested and charged with misdemeanor theft for failure to return several library books. It got a lot of press coverage because the woman was about six months pregnant at the time of her arrest, and couldn’t make the $1,000 bail that day, and spent the night in jail until someone could pay her bail the next day. </p>

<p>Getting a library card might have been a really bad idea, now that I think about it.</p>

22

<p>I’ll tell you we have moved alot and (okay, just counted) I have joined 12 libraries in five different states and have never had a problem. As long as you have a picture id and a piece of mail or valid lease, or house title saying that you live in the area that your library serves, getting a card should be as easy as pie. I’m hoping that the language problem is what’s making it weird.</p>

<p>The library that you dealt with has got to be a strange one. The stories that you’ve mentioned are just so odd that they’re the kinds of things that make the news - not stuff that happens everyday. You’ve got to know that library employees don’t go door to door collecting fines! If we have someone with several missing books we turn that over to a collection agency, just like any business does. I did read that story about the lady who had the overdue books and was arrested, and that’s why it made the news because it doesn’t normally happen. I just googled it (think it’s the same one) and here’s part of it:</p>

<p>"It started Tuesday when a Baytown officer pulled her over for a traffic violation near Commerce and West Texas Avenue. The officer issued three traffic citations for disregarding a traffic sign, no insurance, and no driver’s license. But then he found a warrant and the cuffs came out.</p>

<p>Knauf said both the city attorney and the library sent Ibarra notices about her overdue book and her $118 fine. </p>

<p>After months with no response, a warrant was issued for her arrest and the rest is history. Ibarra says she never received the notices because she moved, but she accepts responsibility for her actions, even though she thinks the consequence was extreme. As for the book in question, Ibarra says she’s not even sure which book it was." </p>

<p>So, it’s not like there are library police arresting people for overdue books. This was a person that borrowed a book, never returned it and ignored library notices and ones from the city attorney. At blockbuster if you do that, they can at least charge your credit card for a lost video. You can take out as many books, videos’s, dvd’s and cd’s as you’d like and we don’t have anything on record but your address and phone number. I think all in all, libraries are pretty trusting for the value they give.</p>

23

<p>I agree that this sounds bizarre… most libraries really are quite lenient. I still have a library card that I got when I was 9 years old, and it works fine. I assume that when I turned 18 (I’m 25 now) they must have changed my account to make me responsible for the materials rather than my parents, though I was never notified of any such change. I still use the card when I visit my parents, though I feel kind of stupid handing over a card with a “signature” on the back that look like it was written by a child-- because it was! I’ve checked out everything from the Bobbsey Twins to Plato on that card.</p>

<p>If you forget your card, you can tell them your name and a password that you set when you set up your account. And-- yes-- my password has been the same since I was 9… not exactly a high security system.</p>

24

<p>libraries are to provide a service for residents-but I have never known libraries to be that particular over who they define as a resident</p>

<p>I use the library a fair amount-they just redid our neighborhood library and it is pretty nice & you can order books or suggest books to order online.
( you alsocan check out your books yourself- using a scanner like at the grocery)</p>

<p>But we have also bought our fair share of books over the years.</p>

<p>Many books when the kids were little, because they didn’t want to give them up- but now I have so many books that I have boxes of them that won’t fit in the bookshelves.
( and no more room for bookshelves , unless I want to start putting them in front of windows)</p>

<p>I am having a huge yard sale to get rid of some that I really doubt I will ever read again- but I don’t consider them a waste of money.</p>

<p>We will spend $8 on a movie that we forget by the time we get to the parking lot, but why is that too much money to spend on a book?</p>

25

<p>I don’t pay for movies either :slight_smile: Movies are boring, and the last two times I went I fell sound asleep 15 minutes into it. But seriously, I don’t mind at all paying for quality literature in hardback that we intend to keep. It’s the fiction paperbacks I don’t want to pay for.</p>

26

<p>Whoa, Latetoschool, we could start a debate on “English as the official language!”.
I think it is time to give up on the library, if you haven’t proven residency yet, it isn’t going to happen. I’m surprised at the hours, even here in the land of low taxes, the library stays open in the evenings, except Fri and Sat. Not open on Sun, in fact, nowhere that I have lived has the public library been open on Sun, university library, yes.</p>

<p>Try a few yard sales, they usually have paperbacks. I’m something of a book collector with unusual (but not obscene) tastes, I’ve bought some books on Ebay. Single books are expensive because of shipping, but I’ve bought some sets and multi-book lots, and gotten good deals. Yard sales are cheapest, although the books may not be in English - perhaps it is time for language study ;).</p>

27

<p>I have found used bookstores great for that quick summer reading type of book. What I don’t like is that they don’t have the same smell as a brand new book.
We used the library for years. My oldest was a huge reader and would come home with a huge stack and we wouldn’t see her for days. 2nd kid doesn’t read. The 3rd is a huge reader but loves to read in the bathtub so no library books for her.
A problem I am finding is keeping the 12 yr old in books. She loves to read and reads daily. She also reads fast. We have tried the used bookstores but I find at least in our town the young adult and childrens selection is really limited. It seems at least in our town people don’t sell back their kids books.
Another issue is finding books for her that are age appropriate. She is at the age where she loves realistic fiction. But many of the books that have come out in the last few years are pretty bad and you can’t tell by the cover or reading the back.</p>

28

<p>It was really hard to find books for my oldest. She was reading things like Island of the Blue Dolphins when she was 7- at least her sister didn’t have such an advanced reading level- & Harry Potter books as well as related and the Tolkien books kept her busy for months if not years.</p>

<p>My husband trades books with people from work, and we swap books in our book club. The problem is, if you bring books to share, teh others expect you to take some home!
I would love to get some new books, but I really have to get rid of some to do so. I can’t wait till my D is moved into her new house- I have a couple boxes for her :)</p>

29

<p>Does your local Starbucks or other coffee shop have a book swap shelf? Buy a cheap book for $.50, stick it on the shelf, pick up another one… </p>

<p>Might not have the best selection, but if you go to a few different stores, you’ll probably have enough to keep you occupied.</p>

30

<p>Oh I forgot about this practice
<a href=“http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1215/p25s01-stin.html[/url]”>http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1215/p25s01-stin.html&lt;/a&gt;
( it reminds me of when my neighbor used to leave bags of tomatoes on my porch and run away)</p>

31

<p>Cangel, lol, we have decided to try to learn the language here instead; we’re just simply not very good at it. D had Latin all through high school, German first two years of college, now is taking on Arabic, and so is fitting in Spanish wherever she can. I’m simply lazy and expect the language to just jump out of the CDs and books we purchased, and magically import itself into my head without my having to actually do any real work. But we love the culture here - there have been wild parties in the streets ever since Casto’s health news broke, and we have been out at night madly photographing demonstrators and flag-waving crowds, etc. - downside is people get excited, start talking to us, want us to pose for pictures with them, and we cannot understand a word they’re saying, but, we are interested and very much would like to be able to communicate with them. Stubbornly I am going to keep trying to make this library card thing happen, but I’m also going to follow up on the other suggestions here. </p>

<p>Emeraldkity, very cool link, where do you find this stuff? Thanks for posting that…</p>

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<p>So what did they charge you for the lost book? That $100 nonresident fee is going to look like a bargain pretty soon! :D</p>

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<p>Try contacting the Friends of the Library associated with your local library (if there is one.) They may be able to help with the library card problem and can almost certainly sell you good books cheap!</p>

34

<p>I have had to replace a couple books for the library
one I flat out lost & one I dropped in the tub and couldnt get it dried out properly.
I replaced both by finding the books used online- ( by ISBN #s) try bestbookbuys.com
since they weren’t new in the first place- it was much cheaper to do it that way,rather than to be billed by the library for a brand new book from their distributor.
Of course some libraries, may not go for that- but I didn’t have any problem.</p>

35

<p>NJres, I know that you are going to think I am making this up, but, the library reports no record of me ever having checked it out in the first place. </p>

<p>I know they’re wrong though - here’s what happened: I checked out “google for dummies”. Don’t laugh. I just wanted to find out if there was something new that perhaps I didn’t know, which, after a quick read of the last half of the book, determined there was nothing in the book that I didn’t already know. (BTW this is the other reason I wanted a library card - I want to be able to sample books that might tell me something new, but that probably wouldn’t, but still might be fun to read, but without spending and potentially wasting money.)</p>

<p>Anyway, we were traveling and so D called one of her best friends, a PH.D./MD student to come feed our cat for a few days. D does the same for him when he’s traveling, and what they do is - they go to each other’s house, feed and play with the cat, watch movies, eat, sleep, and generally live in the apartment while serving cat duty. So while he’s here he read a few books; called us and said “great books”, to which D responded “please feel free to borrow anything you like”, and so, he borrowed “google for dummies”. </p>

<p>I have no idea why this young man needed to read that particular book, considering he’s a ph.d. student, however, he flew home to Pennsylvania last week, D is feeding his cat until he returns, the book is no where in sight, and he doesn’t remember where he left it, but thinks it might be in his locker at the med school. </p>

<p>So I went to the library Saturday to return all the books, and to explain this one is missing and pay the fine or whatever, and they said they have no record of it. </p>

<p>I showed them the printed receipt that they provide when you check out books (looks exactly like a grocery store receipt), and it clearly lists the book, but, what can you do? They said there is no record of it, and they cannot explain to me how that can be when it’s on the receipt. </p>

<p>Maybe this isn’t really a library I’m visiting. But it says “library” on the door. Hmmm.</p>