A while ago, I borrowed several books from my neighbourhood library. When done with them, I returned them to the library, except for one, a booklet that skipped my sight. The booklet hid itself under one of my own books. I thought I had returned the borrowed books, but the booklet was still unaccounted for on the library side, meaning it was under my library card, loaned to me but not returned yet. Eventually, the library declared the booklet a lost item and charged its replacement cost on my library card. Today, I got an email telling me to pay a hefty charge to replace the lost item.
How much do you think that charge was? They charged me 90 dollars for a booklet that contained only 16 pages. I searched for the booklet and, luckily, found it lurking under a bigger book. I sighed a big relief and thanked Allah for retrieving the booklet. It juxtaposes passages and pictures of people of different ages at different times. Indeed, the booklet titled “My Canadian immigrant parents” carries a historical value for the library.
I took the booklet to the library and presented my library card to be searched in the system. A female library staff member located my name bearing the lost booklet. “I have it here,” I said, and asked, “So, what is going to happen now?” “I’m taking the item off your library card, so the 90 dollars are off, too. You do not owe it anymore since you returned the item.” “What makes this 16-page long booklet that expensive?” I asked her. “Probably, it is hard to replace it and, probably, it has a historical value,” she said. I thanked her for clearing my name, and she nodded to my gratitude.
