So you rented No Country for Old Men, were confused by the ending, and borrowed the novel from the library hoping to find answers. Now you’re no more enlightened and facing late fees from two places. Well, unlike No Country’s Llewelyn, you have a way out. First, smuggle the contraband back into the place you got it and, when no one’s looking, return the offending item to the shelf. When the next person checks it out, the computer will see that it hasn’t been officially returned. Most systems automatically attribute this to employee error (someone forgot to scan it back in) and erase your late fee. It’s your only hope of getting away clean. Well, aside from ponying up the whopping five bucks you owe. — James Lee
March 31, 2008
Wired publishes Library 1.0 hack!
Posted by lkrivitz under LIS768 | Tags: fees, library, Wired |[3] Comments
April 1, 2008 at 10:39 am
This is hilarious! And I suppose it would actually work – after all, libraries are really working on positive customer service, and why would you doubt a customer when they said they returned the book and then the book was on the shelf?
I do have to admit, that I inter library loaned a text book for a class once and kept it for the whole semester – because the overdue fines were smaller than the cost of the book!
April 2, 2008 at 9:47 am
That is totally unethical, hilarious, and something I might do with the overdue WordWorld DVD for my child!
April 2, 2008 at 9:11 pm
I’m sure this happens in the library where I work all the time. Patrons come up with very crafty, elaborate ways of avoiding fines. You should hear some of the stories I hear:)