Fine-free, how can it be?

The children and I have been taking a weekly trip to the library for at least a year now – although probably for longer than that. The library is my happy place, after all.

For quite a while now, our library day has been Thursday – which means that I log into the library system every Thursday morning and gather books to be returned and electronically renew books I don’t want to return.

But, every so often, we end up visiting the library on some day other than a Thursday – and then everything gets thrown off. When I log into the system on Thursday, I have to decide whether I’m going to renew books EARLY, before they’re due, and thus lose days off the total of 12 weeks we’re allowed to check books out (three four-week checkouts) or if I’ll come back to renew them when they’re due.

Well, last week, I decided to come back the next day. Except I forgot. So the twenty-five books that were due on Friday went overdue. I have a three day grace period during which to return or renew them without accruing fines (thanks to being a member of our local chapter of friends of the library). But I didn’t renew on Saturday (day 1 of grace) or Sunday (day 2 of grace) or Monday (day 3 of grace). I didn’t log on to renew those books until this morning, when I got a text notification that I had overdue books.

Now, if I don’t renew or return within the grace period, I’m supposed to pay for the whole overdue period (as if no grace period existed.) Which means my account should be charged $0.25 per book per day – or $25 for 100 book-days. But I checked right after renewing, and no fine was levied. I’ve been checking back all day long, but my account still reads $0.00

I don’t know what to think of it. I’m rather expecting to see the charge show up by morning. Surely the library can’t be just absorbing the $25 I ought to owe.