I have always been a great patron of the library.  More so than the average tax-payer because I always have a fine to pay.  Sometimes only a few cents, sometimes (especially during the summer) in the five, fifteen, or twenty dollar range.

But no more.

As of now, I will buy my books from book sellers, either brick-and-mortar or ebay and Amazon.  Why?  Because this last fine was in the drop-the-jaw-pass-out-on-the-floor range.  I knew there’d be a fine, and was prepared to pay it, but this was ridiculous.  Apparently a renewal that we thought we made wasn’t, and a book we know we returned (I dropped it in the slot myself) is “still out”, and the library has no upper limit on their fines, so . . .

They have killed the goose with the golden eggs.

If they had just charged me twenty, maybe twenty-five dollars I would have paid with a groan but continued to come to the library.  And every time I checked out books, I’d be a little late and pay another fine.

As is, I can’t risk it. 

Of course, our family will continue to consume books.  We have rooms over-flowing with them, and never seem to get enough.  But for the amount of money the library just charged us, I could have bought every book on the list.  So in future, that’s what I’ll do.