After doing some very basic 'late' spring cleaning I have come across some (8 years +) overdue library books. If there was a national amnesty day for overdue books I would feel a lot happier returning them, without the fear of being very told off.-- arora, Apr 26 2002 Amnesty programs exist. One example: http://www.friendsa.../media.html#amnestyGoogle: "Library Books" amensty return [half, Apr 26 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004] Martians' Day http://www.halfbake...a/Martians_27_20DayMy annotation reminded me of an OMRLP manifesto item of mine. [Aristotle, Apr 27 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004] (?) contender for the new National Anthem (UK) http://haa.oddballs.com/sodemall.html.... sod 'em all... [po, Apr 30 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004] "Woman Arrested for Overdue Books" http://ponetwork.co...s/LibraryBooks.htmlClearwater, Florida [waugsqueke, May 02 2002] (?) "Woman Faces Jail for Overdue Library Books" http://www.azcentra...verdueBooks-ON.htmlHazleton, Pennsylvania [waugsqueke, May 02 2002] (?) "Arrest warrants issued for overdue library books" http://detnews.com/...07/09/c05-88029.htmDetroit, Michigan [waugsqueke, May 02 2002] (?) Man arrested for overdue "Green Eggs and Ham" http://news.screami...s/20010707books.htmAnn Arbor, Michigan [waugsqueke, May 02 2002] does the library not have a night slot?-- rbl, Apr 26 2002 Not at my local, but I wish they had.-- arora, Apr 26 2002 what you do is ship them to a friend in a distant land and have them ship them to the library claiming to be you and apologizing for the delay. Let's see them collect that fee from someone living on another continent!-- runforrestrun, Apr 26 2002 Baked in the form of "Amnesty Week" in my area. Google shows that a lot of areas have the same thing. You should inquire at your library. The article in the link I posted even mentions that they encourage you to share your reasons for being late.-- half, Apr 26 2002 i'd be nervous asking the local library if they had an amnesty program. kind of like calling revenue canada (or your local equivelant) and asking about avoiding taxes. SURE, we have an amnesty program, just give us your name and we'll be in touch.-- rbl, Apr 26 2002 Thank you for the link [half crazy], just need the UK to do the same and I'm sorted. Rods: I have taken them to the school fate sometimes to try to ease my guilt, but it's just not the same. (now I sound like a library book theif)-- arora, Apr 26 2002 Can't smuggle them back in? Walk in with them in a backpack, sit down somewhere, take one out and pretend to read it for a while. 'Get bored', walk over to the shelf and 'return' it. Repeat as necessary. They'll find them the next time they do inventory.-- phoenix, Apr 27 2002 Guerilla book returning, eh? I would recommend that you paint yourself green, remove all ID and claim to be a Martian who abducted your books for an inhuman series of experiments. I would like to see them claim the overdue fees from another planet ...-- Aristotle, Apr 27 2002 Green? Nah that wouldn't work. You need bookshelf camouflage. Paint book covers all over your body. Don't forget the Dewey Decimal numbers.-- RayfordSteele, Apr 27 2002 A superhero dressed in green body hugging leotard with Y fronts worn on the outside (bit of a nerd reference see) large LBR emblazoned on his chest. is it a bird? is it a plane? no - its Library Book Return Man.-- po, Apr 27 2002 If you leave it on the return cart "anonymously," the library will still have a record of who had the book checked out-- that is, who owes money for late returns. They can then put a hold on your account barring you from checking out books or using many library services until you pay the fine.-- jester, Apr 30 2002 Try my library; they have sod all worth borrowing.-- angel, Apr 30 2002 I think most libraries have a cap value of about 100 days or so, after which the book is marked as lost. Return the book, and they waive the replacement, etc fees and only charge you for the 100 days, regardless of how much later it is.-- nick_n_uit, Apr 30 2002 I have returned some very overdue books and had to pay quite hefty fines, (probably more than the cost of the book), but I have also found some books - when packing for moving - which are years overdue, I just worry how much I would owe. I have also found a few which I have bought (probably at car boot sales or book markets) which are old library books, which should be returned - I don't hang on to them, I just misplace them or loose them for a while.-- arora, Apr 30 2002 [UB:] Hadn't considered that. Side comment: stealing that which is freely and generously lent is almost worse than other sorts of pilfering.-- jester, May 01 2002 *Sigh*. You know, if the book is 8 years overdue, your librarian or library assistant is not going to charge you 8 year's worth of fines. Honestly.
Let me tell you that if you brought a book back to *my* library that was 8 years late, I would just be happy to get it back at all. I assume that you no longer frequent that library, so you don't need to worry about not being allowed to borrow any more books. If you *do* still use it, then, fecking heck, why on earth didn't you take it back earlier, when you were getting all your overdue notices?
Just take the books back. You don't need to hang around if you are embarrassed, just leave them on the counter and walk back out. Not returning them is stealing them, and we don't like people who do that.-- salachair, May 02 2002 salachair, as you can see from the links I posted, the American library police take the issue of overdue books very seriously.-- waugsqueke, May 02 2002 Blimey. Do US police have to meet arrest quotas or something?-- calum, May 02 2002 random, halfbakery