Lost with Soundtrack

J.C. the third came in to pay for a lost book. This in itself is suspect as J.C. III is known for his frugality. Never one to willingly pay an overdue fine much less for the current list price for an actual book. In the past he has requested that the SoCal library buy obscure sci-fi and fantasy titles so that he could read them with out having to purchase them.When someone wants to pay for a book Circ staff does not look forward to the paperwork involved. It sucks for us as well as for the patron. It's a pretty intricate process what with all the forms that need to be filled out in triplicate no less. You'd think they were buying a car! And we are busy, by Golly! Other patrons look down upon us for taking so long what with the paper work and reciept giving. There are times when a patron pays for a book that isn't really lost. In these instances there are usually two types of patrons who do that. The first type are the Religious Nuts. R.N.'s are patrons who check out books on witchcraft and other "devil books" with the knowledge that they will not be returning them. Such books I imagine are often burnt. I had a couple of missionaries let me know that it's common practice among their contemporaries. They will check out a book like Buckland's Guide to Witchcraft and then roast a few marshmellow's over the burning carcass of our intellectual rights. The other type is the Obscure Book Lover. OBL's will covet the last known copy of a book by some obscure author of which we are the only library that has it in our collection. They check out the book and then claim they "lost" it in order to make it forever theirs. I believe J.C. III to be an OBL. The big clue was when Ms Nadine was trying to complete the myraid of paperwork required for J.C. III to recompense us for "losing" the book. He was just way too chipper to be laying down cold hard cash for a library book and he was also accepting responsibility. With few exceptions patrons will never, ever take responsibility for lost or overdue books. It's always gotta be the Library's fault. I think what makes this experience exceptional for the staff is when as the line to check out gets longer and longer J.C. III starts giving Ms. Nadine a booktalk about the book as well as serenading her with the "original songs" included within....the lost book. ARGHHH!