Library misplaced a book I returned

Volunteer

Wed, Dec 23 2015, 10:26 am

spring13 wrote:

Scour your branch first. When the librarians there say they'll put a "search" on the book, I assume they mean that they'll contact the system to be on the lookout for it.

Where I worked, searching meant that they put a book on the "missing" list, then, quarterly, someone walked around the shelves looking for the book. Sometimes the book would turn up in its place because when an employee finds a mis-shelved book, it gets reshelved without being rescanned.

Volunteer

Wed, Dec 23 2015, 10:30 am

trixx wrote:

Happened once to me too, I found it on the shelf and showed it to the front desk. Don't know how that would work if there a million copies of your title across multiple branches...

Each copy has a unique barcode, so any copy can be identified. When you borrow a book, the number appears on your record, and you can match it with the barcode number to identify the copy you borrowed.

thunderstorm

Wed, Dec 23 2015, 12:05 pm

This happened to me at Finkelstein library...just ask them to print out the bar code...then go to the section where the book would be and see if you find it...I found mine sitting nicely on the shelf...the computer tends to have glitches...I brought them the book and they apologized for this...always check the shelf...even the librarian recommends to do it !

amother

Seagreen

Wed, Dec 23 2015, 12:13 pm

Bizzydizzymommy wrote:

How would they know you didn't actually walk in with the book?
I have the barcode. I had taken a picture of the book before returning it because I hadn't read it yet and wanted it for future reference.

thunderstorm

Wed, Dec 23 2015, 12:30 pm

amother wrote:

Because they told me it was not returned (all my other books are returned on time) I told them I'll check my house one more time. Came back and told her that I am 100% sure it was returned. So she printed out the code and said I should go look and see if it was on the shelf. I found it , brought it back to them...they told me that they would not fine me because it was their error and they apologized profusely.

amother

Seafoam

Wed, Dec 23 2015, 12:37 pm

I have worked at a few libraries, and this issue often comes up. What I think it comes down to is how the manager/chief librarian feels about the patrons.

For example, in library A, the patron was always wrong. Someone came in a week after Hurricane Sandy and told us his books were destroyed in the flood. We excused his missing books, but not before a manager half-joked "Can we see a deed to the house and a picture of the rubble? Could be he's just taking advantage..." In most cases, we looked but charged people for missing books.

In library B, the patron was always right. If they said they returned it, we said no problem and did not fine them and someone would look for the book later on.

The actions we took were a direct result of how management told us to treat this issue and an outgrowth of how they felt about the trustworthiness of the customers...

Notsobusy

Wed, Dec 23 2015, 11:09 pm

I just went to the library tonight. The librarian checked out one of my dvds and then looked again and said "wow, you just saved someone a lot of money". It had never been checked in.

PinkFridge

Thu, Dec 24 2015, 10:06 am

amother wrote:

When I go in to search, I usually let someone at the front desk (very close to the front door) know what I'm about to do, I show them my bag, I lift my arms, don't exactly invite them to frisk me Tongue Out

but this way they know.