Adventures in library books
So I got a couple of email notices today from the Oakland Public Library, that two books I had requested were available for pick-up. Thing is, I didn't remember putting anything on hold. Don't even recognise the titles, or even the authors. In fact, one sounds like it's utter trash, it's called The First Desire, if you can believe it...
My first thought? Identity theft. Go ahead, roll your eyes--yes, I'm quite paranoid that way. 'OMG, someone has access to my library account!! What if they use up my borrowing privileges, lose books, run up fines, &c., &c.' So I wrote back to the library (who haven't actually replied to me), stating my concern. Then I stopped to wonder what these books were, and looked them up.
Turned out they looked quite interesting. The First Desire is by Nancy Reisman, and relates the story of a Jewish family in the United States before and through WWII. The reviews made it sound quite promising (all apologies to the author for my initial reaction to the title!). The second is Unaccustomed Earth, a collection of short stories (or short novellas, more like) by Jhumpa Lahiri. Also quite well reviewed, also sounded promising.
So... I decided that somebody had decided to do me a favour by introducing me to new authors, and checked the books out of the library. I think I figured out what happened, too, and no, it's not identity theft. Roll your eyes again... I was actually in the library last week, and checked a couple of books out. The librarian at the circulation desk must have forgotten to change user accounts when she put in the hold requests for whoever it was came after me. So they ended up requested for me instead of for that poor person, who will now fail to have their books show up. I feel a bit bad about that, actually, but since there's no possible way to trace back who that was, I guess all I can do is read these real fast and put them back into circulation asap. (Reed was a little horrified, I think...)
Still... feels kinda strange. I'll have to post a review when I'm done, for some sense of closure; I wonder if I should put a note in the books for the person who actually asked for these, to let them know what happened. You'd think this would be futile, but stranger things have happened--I actually found a letter from my own mother, tucked into a book I had returned to the library months before, still there when I picked it up again to check a detail of that story...
My first thought? Identity theft. Go ahead, roll your eyes--yes, I'm quite paranoid that way. 'OMG, someone has access to my library account!! What if they use up my borrowing privileges, lose books, run up fines, &c., &c.' So I wrote back to the library (who haven't actually replied to me), stating my concern. Then I stopped to wonder what these books were, and looked them up.
Turned out they looked quite interesting. The First Desire is by Nancy Reisman, and relates the story of a Jewish family in the United States before and through WWII. The reviews made it sound quite promising (all apologies to the author for my initial reaction to the title!). The second is Unaccustomed Earth, a collection of short stories (or short novellas, more like) by Jhumpa Lahiri. Also quite well reviewed, also sounded promising.
So... I decided that somebody had decided to do me a favour by introducing me to new authors, and checked the books out of the library. I think I figured out what happened, too, and no, it's not identity theft. Roll your eyes again... I was actually in the library last week, and checked a couple of books out. The librarian at the circulation desk must have forgotten to change user accounts when she put in the hold requests for whoever it was came after me. So they ended up requested for me instead of for that poor person, who will now fail to have their books show up. I feel a bit bad about that, actually, but since there's no possible way to trace back who that was, I guess all I can do is read these real fast and put them back into circulation asap. (Reed was a little horrified, I think...)
Still... feels kinda strange. I'll have to post a review when I'm done, for some sense of closure; I wonder if I should put a note in the books for the person who actually asked for these, to let them know what happened. You'd think this would be futile, but stranger things have happened--I actually found a letter from my own mother, tucked into a book I had returned to the library months before, still there when I picked it up again to check a detail of that story...