What would you do if the library insists you have a DVD overdue,

[Critters2]

and you KNOW you've returned it?

I checked out 4 videos for my youth group. I returned all of them together. I distinctly remember having a stack of four videos, and handing it to the woman at the desk. Now, they say one of them was not returned, and until it is I can't check anything out. They're especially touchy about dvd's and other such media, apparently.

I've looked anywhere it might have been, which is to say my car and the youth room. I don't have it. I can't convince them, and the fine just keeps piling up.

What would you do?

[lizziegrace]

1. Ask that they search the shelves

sometimes not all items returned get scanned back in before they're put on the shelf. My library has done this twice. Amazingly, the book or dvd always appears when they look. :shrug:

[Critters2]

2. That's pretty obvious. Why didn't I think of that?

I'll go over and ask them to do this tomorrow.

Thanks!

[lizziegrace]

4. Any time

:)

[murielm99]

17. I worked as a librarian for many years.

I worked behind the scenes as a cataloger, then went to work with the public. Sometimes workers make mistakes. Usually, they can tell if a patron is being honest with them. If you ask them to look for the item, they will go the extra mile to find it.

I have found books mis-shelved, and behind other items. DVDs and videos are even easier to misplace. Now that items go in and out on interlibrary loan, they can get misplaced that way, too.

Now that things are scanned, I think it is easier to lose them than when everything was done by hand. Library clerks rely too much on the electronics to do their jobs.

If someone insisted they had returned an item, we seldom disputed it. Sometimes people would come in much later, sheepishly admitting they found a book or recording under a bed or behind a chair. Usually, it was better for public relations to let things go in favor of the patron.

Once in awhile, we would have a problem, mostly with children, keeping items forever, running up huge fines, or returning things too damaged for use. The kids just needed their parents to help them be responsible about using the library. Sometimes we would have to talk to parents, or suspend library privileges. There was only one adult whose case we referred to the board. She repeatedly lost things, and insisted she had returned them. We did have to suspend her card, and she hit the roof. But those things happen much less often than one would think. Most people are honest about using the library, and they value the service.

It is better not to get defensive about a lost item. Yelling at a librarian or clerk doesn't help. Whether they misplaced the item or you did, things can be worked out. Most libraries want to work it out in the patron's favor.

[Critters2]

19. Thanks.

I wouldn't yell. I'm way too self-conscious to yell in public (I take out my anger with the occasional flamewar here--which protects those I deal with irl :) )

The library director is a friend of mine, we're on the Character Counts Board together (another reason not to yell--they'd kick me off the CC Board). I'll talk to her if I need to.

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. Tell them to look on the frakking shelf; if it's not there, ask who else has it checked out.

I'm always tempted to ask for a receipt when I return stuff at the library. They make a big deal of checkout, but then only want one to just pile up the books and videos and stuff on the counter and they'll "get to 'em later".

They'll either find it on the shelf, or they'll go to the shelf and it won't be there, but if they can check in their system, they'll find someone else has checked it out, and will have checked it out on a date after your alleged refusal to return it.

[Critters2]

5. I'll do this.

Honestly, if I were going to steal a video, it wouldn't be Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. I shudder to think what that would do to my conscience.

[pokerfan]

6. My library accused me of not returning a disc

They said the jewel box was empty. I knoe for a fact it wasn't because I double and triple checked to make sure the disc was in there knowing how easy it is to misplace discs. I also wanted to make double sure that it was the right disc and not some of my porn by mistake.

I tried to hand it in at the counter but they insist that you just use the drop box.

I go back a week later to borrow something and they tell me the disc is missing and that I owe them a fine. I insisted that I returned it but they wouldn't let me check any materials out until the "issue was resolved."

They send me an email a week later saying they found the disc in the bottom of the drop box.

I have no idea what I would have done had they not found it because I was not replacing something I had returned. I now insist on handing all material directly to a person.

[Critters2]

7. The discs here are stamped "do not place in drop box",

so I did hand it to a person, along with three other discs that are not listed as overdue. I know I gave them all four discs.

[pokerfan]

9. Then it's on them, IMO

[Poiuyt]

8. Have you spoken to them?

Generally, if you explain your story to the librarian at the circulation desk and insist that you returned it, they will accept your word. If not ask to speak with his/her supervisor. If you still don't get satisfaction, speak with your library's director. But I doubt it will go that far. They will generally eat the cost if you are honest. (I'm on the Board of Trustees at my local library and that's the way we do it.)

[Critters2]

10. I spoke to one lady at the desk, promised her I'd look again,

even though I know I don't have it. Just tried to place a book on reserve online, and it won't let me, because of this "overdue" dvd. I had told the woman that, if I didn't find it, I'd go back tomorrow to talk to 'em again.

[Common Sense Party]

23. Yeah, all my libraries in the past have done that as well.

If you're a basically honest, decent patron, they take your word for it--because it usually gets misplaced once it's back in their hands, and they know it. I only have four or five things out at a time; it's pretty easy for me to keep track of them. The library has hundreds of thousands of items; it's got to be a major PITA to know where they all are at all times.

[Generic Brad]

11. That happened to me at a video store

I went down there myself and plucked it off the shelf and handed it to the clerk as proof I had returned it. And, this part is true -- the title of the movie was "Wrongly Accused".

[begin_within]

12. Did you return one box without the disc in it?

I did that the other day - the library called me and reminded me, and they were right - the disc was still in the DVD player. They didn't charge me an overdue fine or anything. They said it happens all the time.

[Critters2]

13. No, I ended up not using this dvd. So I never took it out of the box. nt

[pitohui]

14. when this happened to me i found it on the shelf myself and they cleared my record

this has happened to me one time at the video store and twice at the library, all three times i found the item on the shelf and brought it to the front desk so they could fix their error

apparently, very rarely, something gets reshelved without being properly checked back into the computer

[Critters2]

16. Judging from this thread, it happens not-so-rarely.

I'm thinkin' I'll go to the shelf first thing tomorrow, before I deal with the circulation desk again.

[cmkramer]

15. My experience

This happened when I was in the 8th grade at a Catholic elementary school. Anyway, I took a book out of the school library and returned it a few days before it was due. That is, I put it on the librarian's desk. About a week later, I get a note telling me I have an overdue library book and that I owe a fine. I tell them no, I returned that book. They tell me to check again at home. I was the kid who lost everything that wasn't attached so the idea that maybe I lost it somewhere wasn't too far-fetched. I knew I had returned it but I did what they asked anyway. So I told them the book was not at my house nor anywhere that I had been in the week or so that I had returned it.

They told me I must have lost the book, but no problem. My parents could pay for the book and I could do extra chores to pay them back. No, I will not be doing extra chores for anyone because I did not lose the book. I put it on the librarian's desk and as far as I was concerned, that was it for the book. The school called my mother and after the usual "Why do you always have to lose everything" hollering and lecture, she gave me money to pay for it which I kept in my purse.

A few days later, I'm in the school library - I couldn't take books out but I could still read during library hour and what should I find on the shelf? Yep, the book. It had obviously been shelved before it had been properly checked in. I triumphantly took it over to my teacher only to be told that I had obviously "sneaked" the book back in and then when I gave them my theory that it had accidentally been shelved before it had been properly checked in, I was accused of trying to shift the blame elsewhere instead of being a mature responsible person and admitting what I had done wrong. They told me I had to not only pay for the book even though it had been found, but I also had to pay the overdue fines. If I didn't, I would not be able to graduate.

In the end, I turned out to be right. They had a new library aide that had shelved books without checking them in first. I was not the only kid who had it happen to them but I was the only one who didn't just pay for the book and forget it. Did I get any apologies? Hell, no. I got a lecture for being childish and immature and irresponsible.

[Critters2]

18. I hate it when adults just assume kids are wrong.

Good for you for sticking to your guns. Judging from this thread, this sort of thing happens ALL the time. You'd think librarians would understand that.

[cmkramer]

21. The thing is, no one believed me

Not even my parents or my best friend. The general consensus was that I lost the book and was too much of a baby to admit it and that when I found it instead of doing the right thing and taking the book to the librarian and paying the fine, I tried to sneak it into the stacks.

I had so many bad experiences that year it's a wonder I didn't turn against the Church.

[pokerfan]

20. Ah, the lessons we learn in school

Is there any wonder teenagers are so cynical?

[unsavedtrash]

22. It seems like there should be a Claims Returned procedure.

Basically the late fees stop from the day you come in/call to say that you have returned the item.
Double check to find out. Also, find out if there will be a refund when it is found. Talk to a supervisor if possible.
I do a 60 day system wide search before any final decision is made.
This might be a silly question but did you check the DVD player?

[mystwoman]

24. walk in

walk into the library and find it for them.

[Critters2]

25. I went today...first went to the shelf, and there it was.

Then I went to the circulation desk, and the woman there said they had found it and taken the fine off my account. So, all's well.

Thanks for your advice, and for the interesting stories about how often this kind of thing happens! :hi:

[cmkramer]

26. Ironically enough

I was at our library today and when I walked in, the librarian was on the phone telling a patron that (s)he had returned a case without any DVDs in it.