So I have a fine of about $0.50 on a book at the library. It was due sometime back at the beginning of January, but I was able to renew it one or two days after the due date. The fine remained on my account, of course, but the due date was changed to February 1, and no more fines were added. Today is February 2. I knew the due date was coming up, but I wasn't sure exactly when it was.
Now, if you don't know what's going on in my town right now, you should probably read my post "Take Cover, It's The Snowpocalypse!" before you go on.
Because of the impeding Snowpocalypse, early last night much of the city was announced to be closed today, including the library. I saw an update from last night that said the library would be closed today, but be open until 9pm last night. It also said that no fines would be owed for the closed day. That's today.
So because of that, my fines stayed at $0.50, okay whatever, that's nice. But still, why was I able to renew it?
I know you can't take out a book if you have a fine—or a certain amount of fines. Maybe it's the same thing with renews; if you have too many fines on the book you can't renew it? I know you can't renew a book if someone has a hold on it, but that's for a different reason. (It's called sharing.)
Maybe the fine is added to the account, not to the specific book that's late. That would explain why they can't keep you from renewing it. Maybe you can't renew a book if it's a certain number of days late? I'm just trying to figure this out.
Now I know, since the library is a public building, they are funded by tax money. Still, wouldn't you think that someone would come up with some kind of a plan to bring in extra revenue?
I'm not saying they should change this. I'm fine with owning them $0.50 indefinitely, instead of building up $50.00 in fines. (That happened to me once, when this girl borrowed my library book and then lost it backstage during Moon Over Buffalo).
Anyway, Dear Library, if you decide to change your policy in the future, I'm suing you for infringement. Watch yourself.
The fines are added when you return the book. You can always renew stuff unless someone requests it. You can continue building up fines on a book indefinately, but if you then realize you lost it, I can't remember what happens. If you have more than 10$ in fines, you can't check anything out.
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