Library Book Drama

The girls and I have been regular patrons of the public library for several years now. The summer before Reese turned one, library storytime became my haven on too-hot-for-the-park mornings, with the added bonus of being educational of course. We skipped around between several branches in our area and quickly became regulars at the toddler storytime---long before she reached the approved 18mo age recommendation. Likewise, Reese also got her first library card before she turned one. While Reese's home library of books is nothing to shake a stick at, we made checking out several books part of our weekly routine. I will admit that shortly after Paige was born we often missed more storytimes than we attended, but since Paige reached the "approved" toddler age, we've settled back into our weekly love affair with the library.

Being the type A bibliophile that I am, our library visits have a predictable structure and include our library "gear." Reese is responsible for our library bag. It's a bright pink and blue bag where we keep our library books and library cards. When we arrive at the library we drop our books in the drop box immediately upon arriving (so new books don't get mixed in with our older ones), then we attend storytime, then the girls may check out 5 books (I keep the number the same so it's easy to know if we're missing something). The girls LOVE to use the self-check kiosks and both know how to slide their cards and books under the scanners. When we get home, the library books come out of the bag and go into a special box on the bookshelf that is reserved for library books only.

I can't believe I've put my neuroses on display by explaining this process. And I'm sure many readers are eye-rolling, and gaping at my retentiveness. Believe me, if  when the girls need counseling later in life I already have an idea the part I might play in their crazy. And if you knew (some of you do) how many books were in our house maybe  this would make more sense. There is a purpose for all this back story, though...

A month ago, for the first time ever, we lost a library book. *gasp*

This is the specimen that eluded us:

The week in question, Reese had checked out 5 different Fancy Nancy titles, and come Friday morning we only had four in our library book box. The search was on.  I looked through every book on Reese's book shelf (six jam-packed shelves), every book in Paige's room (a measly four shelves), under every bed, in both bathrooms, in every toy box and bin and still couldn't find it. 

After my exhaustive, and exhausting, search I decide to fess up to our negligence during our weekly visit. We marched up to the counter and I told the librarian that, sadly, we had misplaced one of our books and we'd like to pay the replacement fee. 

I was proud of myself for being proactive--the book wasn't even technically overdue yet--and felt like I was being a good role model of responsibility for the girls; so when the librarian sighed and frowned at me I was a little taken aback. He asked for our library card without looking at us, scanned it, slid it back over the counter and began furiously typing and clicking away on his computer. Surely turning in so many other books on time and without issue gave us a little bit of credit as a good library patrons? Guess not.  Having purchased paperback 'easy readers' like this one in the past, I assumed it's replacement cost would mirror th list price of about $4. So, when our condescending friend informed me that it would cost $29 to replace the book I decided I'd exhaust myself some more looking at home--at least until the book was actually due. 

Fast-forward three weeks: I'm still looking for the book whenever it's clean up time, and I have resigned myself to another lovely encounter with Mr. I'm-Disappointed-In-You to fork over twenty-nine freakin' dollars. Just when I had lost hope, the book mysteriously appeared during a playdate with one of Reese's friends from school. I still have no idea where it had been hiding--and Reese either doesn't know or is afraid to tell me. 

In the end, I think all parties won--our librarian friend got his book back and I breathed a sigh of relief after happily paying our late fee: $1.05.