The other day, I had my kids return a stack of books at the library. I guess the front cover tore off one as it went down the BOOK RETURN shoot. The library wants to charge me $24.99 for a replacement book and until I pay the fine, I cannot check out other books, put holds on books or renew books that I already have. Oh, and I only found out about this fine tonight as I tried to renew a book online.

Now, I can understand that a ripped front cover is not normal wear and tear but the book was not in good shape to begin with so I think charging me full replacement cost (RETAIL!) is exhorbitant. I can buy it brand new from amazon.com for about $15 so there is no way I am going to pay them $25 for the same book. And, when I replace the book, I am going to take the damaged book from them because I had originally borrowed it to see if it were something I wanted to buy for myself (it was but now I get a crappy copy). :\

And, from now on, if I get a book from the library that is not in perfect shape, I will definitely point it out to the librarian before I check it out (Oh, I had ordered this book so I did not know the condition beforehand).