Ah, library patrons. What wacky hijinks will you come up with next?

Today I spent a good five minutes on the phone with a patron, debating his late fees. Our system usually sends out courtesy notices via email to remind people that they're books are due soon, but the emails have been unreliable since our switch to the new system this summer. Because of this, this patron didn't receive a notice, and he didn't receive an overdue notice until 2 weeks after the books were due. I was arguing that while the courtesy notices are lovely things, they are a COURTESY, and you're still responsible for knowing when your books are due (it's stamped in the back!) and renewing/returning them on time. He wasn't having it. I gave up and transferred him to my supervisor. I think the patron finally won, but geez. Mind you, this was over $6 in fines. Not a minuscule amount, but really not that much, either. I wonder how he would have acted if it had been $20 or more.

The other excitement of the day came while I was sorting books for reshelving. I noticed a slip of paper in a book, so I pulled it out. (PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: please remove all bookmarks, sticky notes, labels, paperclips, etc. from books before you return them. They can cause damage to the books when left inside for long periods of time.) But this was no ordinary piece of scrap paper. It was a check. A signed check, no less. Date and amount filled out, but not the recipient. If I had far fewer scruples, I could have added a nice chunk of change to my bank account.