Library across the street? Yes, please!

One of my favorite things about living in the DG is being across the street from the library. This arrangement has already proven to be incredibly beneficial and has saved me from spending $ to buy books. It has also saved me money by not being sent to collections for an overdue library book again.

Yes, I admit it. The one and only time I have ever been sent to collections was for owing less than $6 on a library book that I forgot I had back in college (Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand...once you've been sent to collections, you don't forget these things.). One day, I got a call from a bill collector saying that I owed money for a past due library book.

Okay, first of all, when the heck did libraries start sending people to collections for owing less than $6?!

Second, COME ON. Doesn't it cost more to actually hire a collections agency to track down library "criminals" than it would to, oh, I don't know, call them yourself?

By the time all was said and done, I ended up paying over $60 in fees for one overdue library book that wasn't even a month overdue.

I also had a close scare a few months before I moved when I found one of my library books in my roommate's room (no comment). Being sufficiently schooled in the methods of library collection escalation, I immediately called my library to see how much I owed. I was told that they had just sent the account to collections that day (for owing $4.11, mind you), but I could hurry and try to pay it off that night to cancel the request. I was "fortunate" enough that they didn't send it to collections after all.

/end rant

That being said, it is no longer out of my way to return (or acquire) library books, so I am one happy woman!