My Interlibrary Loan request arrived earlier this week at my local library. I got an email notification, asking to contact the front desk ie. it will not be in the usual “holds” shelf. Except – I had already bought a second-hand copy of the book (Anthropology and Development by Katy Gardner and David Lewis) off the Better World Books website and didn’t need the loan anymore.
Before submitting my loan request on September 30, I had checked both my county’s library system as well as my university library at Georgia Tech, neither had a physical copy available. My college librarian asked me to try an interlibrary loan at the county library, where you can request interstate loans too which I wasn’t aware of. After submitting my loan request online though, I was cautioned by my local librarian that ILL requests often taken months to arrive and they usually do not receive any intermediate updates on the progress. So, with the request already submitted, anticipating it to take months to arrive, I ordered the book online and have been slowly reading it.
On October 14, I received an email saying my pickup was ready. Well, I guess I don’t need it anymore.
Yesterday, I took the library road on my way back from Costco, thinking, “Let’s see if you change your mind.” I had no other reason to drop by the library. I swerved my car into the parking lot and parked.
Inside, I told the librarian I was impressed with the pace. She didn’t remember it was only a few weeks ago that I had submitted my request and enquired with her (they probably get many of these, but in my solipsist mind I expected her to remember). The second librarian walked me through the rules – I would have two months before the book was due, and had to request a renewal, if needed, a week beforehand. I’d have to call the front desk to request a renewal, since the book wouldn’t be listed in my online account to follow the usual renewal procedure.
It was a flat fine of $100 if I lost the book, and $1 late fee per day (unlike $0.10 late fee for a normal loan, and the market value fine for a lost book). I listened, savoring each of these as I learned them and about how interlibrary loans work – it was all novel to me, though this book had arrived from Carrolton in Carroll County, only 45 miles from Atlanta.
The librarian handed me a sheet to sign – the whole time I was trying to make up my mind whether I should actually check out the book or ask to simply send it back. But then he brought the book out – it was a hardcover copy, the one I had at home was a paperback. It also had the stamp of its home library, and a sheath of paper attached to its cover with the due date, my name among other details. That was special for a library loan! The usual loans don’t even have the due date on them here and I have to obsessively check my online account (back in Trivandrum the due date is sealed in ink to a sheet inside and you can see the history of due dates the book has gone through, extending decades).
Can’t say no now.
I checked it out of the library, double-checking the due date with the librarian, and walked back to my car, smiling. I’m a sucker for novelty and rules. I set a reminder to return the book in December, but I’ll very likely return it in early November, wondering if I’m wasting a resource a student or someone else could use, guilt-tripping myself. But I checked it out only to learn what the rules around the loans are like, and how to navigate them. Mission accomplished.
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