Unreturned books

McKinney Hubbard

Everything comes to him who waits, except a loaned book.

McKinney Hubbard

Public libraries stamp their name on every book they loan out, as well as the date when it is due back. They know the names of the lenders and where to find them. Yet even they often don't get their books back. Try to walk out of a library with a book you failed to check out properly and alarms will likely go off.

If libraries with their various levels of security have difficulty keeping track of all their books, it is certainly no easier for individuals to ever see their books again after letting friends or acquaintances borrow them. There are many reasons for this:

1. People often have difficulty finishing books, however much they want to. They put them aside to get back to later, and days turn into months and into years.

2. Books can get lost. We put books on top of books. We move. We put clutter away when company comes, then fail to put things back where they were.

3. As time passes, we forgot who actually owns a particular book. Is this mine or did I borrow it from somebody? If I borrowed it, from whom?

4. After a long period of time, it can be embarrassing to return a borrowed item. It calls attention to the failure to return it promptly. Maybe the owner has forgotten all about it. Or at least we may hope.

5. Sometimes those who borrow books like them so much they simply don't want to give them back.