Many Happy Returns

Over the past couple of weeks visitors to the library may have noticed some changes as we work to move our Returns Desk to a new location. Currently the Returns Desk is tucked in beside the main door, on your left as you walk into the building. We now have a returns slot fitted into the wall to the left of the Issues/Information desk, and the returning of books will be carried out by library staff behind a set of screen walls. We will continue to operate an after-hours return slot at the Queen Street door so there will be no change for those of you who rely on this option to get your books back.


We are hopeful that this change will help improve the service we offer to our borrowers. Some days we have to deal with a huge number of items that need to be returned, particularly on a Monday morning and especially after a long weekend. Many mornings we aren’t even able to see the returns person behind the pile of books waiting to be returned. Getting all these books out of the way will allow for a more streamlined and secure process. Moving the returns area to behind the main desk also means we will gain some much needed space.

When people return their books they often have something they want to discuss - perhaps they have identified something that needs repairing, books that need to be renewed, fines they want to pay, advice on more books by this or similar authors. It makes sense to offer all these options in one place rather than borrowers having to go back and forth between the Issues and Returns desks. We also have occasional borrowers who are not regular library users and miss the Returns Desk when they enter the library, bringing their books to the Issue Desk in a slightly confused state. Hopefully having the returns slot right beside the Issues/Information area will make the process simpler and easier for all.

Occasionally we have books returned to the library that don’t belong to us, belonging either to other libraries or borrowers own collections. Where possible we try to work out who the book is likely to belong to and contact the person to let them know we have it. In the case of other libraries’ books this is relatively straight forward as they are stamped with the libraries name, but in the case of personal books it can require a bit more detective work. If you think you may have wrongly returned a book here it is worth giving us a call to see if we have it.

A quick scroll of the Internet revealed that many strange items can get passed through a library’s returns slot including a book where a rasher of bacon had been used as a bookmark, a copy of Agatha Christie’s ‘The Body in the Library’ that appeared to have real blood on it, and a book on dog obedience that had been chewed on. It is also not uncommon for very overdue library books to be passed through the returns slot.

We get these quite regularly but none quite as bad as Camelback High School Library in Phoenix who late last year received two overdue library books that had been issued in 1959. 50 years later they were returned to the library along with a money order for $1,000 to cover the overdue charges. And if you have some overdue library books and feel guilty about returning them don’t feel too bad. Apparently the New York Society Library is still waiting for inaugural U.S. President George Washington to return two books he borrowed in 1789!

Jon Adams
Community Outreach Librarian
Masterton District Library