Marcheline's rant: The Library

There's something that's been sticking in my craw lately... and it has to do with my local library.

See, if I took a book out, and found that pages 23 through 40 had been torn out, and I took the book into the library and showed them the damage, what do you think would happen?

I'll tell you. The nice library lady would take the book back, perhaps put in a request for its replacement, and she would dispose of the book - however library ladies do that. Not sure if they burn them, repurpose them, throw them in the bin, recycle them, or use them for toilet paper... but what I can tell you is that they would not put the unreadable book back on the shelf.

Now, that precedent having been established, let's move on to the next media format. Movies on DVD. Time after time after time, Bear and I have taken a movie out of the library, curled up on the couch after a hard day at work to watch it, and upon taking it out of the plastic casing found the discs inside looking like they'd been mauled by a pit bull. Or perhaps attacked by an angry three year old armed with a screwdriver. And, right on cue, said movie would hang up, freeze up, refuse to go forward... usually right smack dab in the middle of the crucial scene.

We have taken these movies back to the library, shown them the damaged discs, and told them that the movie is unwatchable due to said damage. And what do you suppose they do?

They put them right back on the shelf for someone else to take out and not be able to watch.

WHAT IS IT WITH THAT?!?!?

Does the library get popularity points for how many movies they keep on the shelves, regardless of whether you can actually watch them or not? Is there some local regulation stating that no library can discard a DVD once they have accepted it into their collection?

I mean, some people look at me and say, "but it's free." As if that makes it worth watching eighty percent of a movie and then not being able to see the ending. Please notice I am not railing against the people who are careless with, aggressive toward, or downright abusive to the DVDs... I know better than to expect the general public to give a crap about their fellow man. I'm not expecting people borrowing free movies to actually keep them in nice shape so that other people can watch them... no, no, much too jaded am I.

But the library should take some responsibility to remove damaged materials from the shelves when they've been advised by their patrons, am I right? And the library isn't exactly free, you know... we pay taxes! And late fees, on occasion.

Thus endeth my rant. Anyone want to weigh in on this?

*******UPDATE*******

Prompted by a comment-section discussion with How I Roll, I made a phone call to my local library and found out two interesting pieces of information.

1. All those books and movies I've donated to the library over the years? They don't go on the shelves! They get sold. All the books/movies in the library are purchased new. Hard to believe, but apparently true.

2. When DVDs are turned in and reported damaged, they get sent to "the workshop" where they are "buffed out" and "repaired" and then put back on the shelves. Obviously an exercise in futility, ineffective, and pointless... but there you have it.