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Lines from the Library (January 2003)
By Frankie Shaw Time is going by so quickly that it really was no surprise to find that a greater percentage than usual of our members owed fines over the Christmas/ New Year period. How quickly 3 weeks passes when there is so much to do! Our new computer system quaintly describes those who owe fines as being ‘delinquent', whether the fine amounts to 20 cents or $20.00. Not until the appropriate amount is paid is their 'delinquency' status lifted, and we have not yet resorted to some of the methods employed in the US to get those recalcitrant borrowers to pay their fines. I was turning out some files the other day when I came across a newspaper clipping describing how some unfortunate ‘delinquent' library users in the US have been treated. One poor offender was arrested in a hospital emergency room, in connection with her overdue books. In jail she was given a body search and kept overnight. Although she pleaded guilty and paid fines of $23.00, she maintained that someone had stolen her purse which contained her library card; one homeless man in Joplin Mo. got 11 days in jail for overdue books, and a Florida man was arrested during a routine traffic stop and sent to jail because he had a warrant against him for overdue books. Unique Management Services Inc., a US collection agency, focusing exclusively on retrieving overdue library books, has received more than 1 million accounts since 1994. The average tardy borrower owes $65.00, which can be reduced if books are returned. Libraries pay Unique Management $4.95 for each individual account and last year the company recorded $2 million in revenue. Don't let this deter you, though, from using your library to borrow books, books on tape, videos, DVDs, CDs and magazines. Just keep an eye on the date recorded on your receipt and all will be well if you return your books on time. Failing that, you can renew them by giving us a call during opening hours, or you can renew them yourself by accessing our iBistro website at http://well.county.on.ca and entering your Id. numbers. This site is a perfect way to browse through the Wellington County Library's collection at leisure, whether you are looking for a particular author or items about a particular subject. The more you ‘click' the more you can find out about the delights of searching at home in comfort. New Additions to our shelves: Non fiction. Barlow, Maude. Profit is Not the Cure. Biderman Beverley. Wired for Sound; a journey into hearing. Chopra, Deepak. Chopra Center Cookbook; nourishing body and soul. Corbett, Gail. Nation Builders; Barnado Children in Canada. Cornwell Patricia. Portrait of a Killer; Jack the Ripper, case closed. Davies, Adrian. Digital Photography. Edmonston, Phil. Lemon-Aid SUVs, Vans and Trucks 2003. Frattaroli, E. Healing the Soul in the Age of the Brain. Lyle. Official Antiques Review. Peiffer, Vera. How to Say 'No' When You Feel You ought to Say ‘Yes'. Roosevelt, David. Grandmere; a personal history of Eleanor Roosevelt. Thayer, Helen. Polar Dream: 1st solo expedition by a woman and her dog to the magnetic North Pole. Ungar, Michael. Playing at Being Bad; the hidden resilience of troubled teens. Wagner, Karen. Family Research in Wellington County, Ontario,Canada. Williamson, Marianne. Everyday Grace; having hope, finding forgiveness and making miracles. Wilson, Paul. Calm Mother, Calm Child. Yasgur, Batya. Behind the Burqa; our life in Afghanistan & how we escaped to freedom. Fiction Allende, Isabelle. Portrait in Sepia Anderson-Dargatz, Gail. Rhinestone Button. Banks, Iain. Dead Air. Evanovich, Janet. Visions of Sugar Plums. Evans, Richard Paul. Last Promise. Gibb, Camilla. Petty Details of So and So's Life. Follett, Ken. Hornet Flight. Naipaul, V.S. Half a Life. Patterson, James. Four Blind Mice. Perry, Anne. Talthea Proulx, Annie. That Old Ace in the Hole. Sweatman, Margaret. When Alice Lay Down With Peter.( Margaret Laurence award for fiction). Truman, Margaret. Murder at Ford's Theatre. Turow, Scott. Reversible errors. Updike, John. Seek My Face. Walters, Minette. Fox Evil. Wilhelm, Kate. Skeletons. Now that the busy season has passed, take some time for yourself, sit down and enjoy a good book! -Frankie You can read more about the Puslinch Library by going to A Puslinch Diary. You can read previous Lines from the Library here: November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 February 2002 November 2001 October 2001 August 2001 July 2001 June 2001 May 2001 April 2001 |