Little Book Lost

I got an email from the library yesterday morning, saying that I had had a particular book for so long that it now was listed as missing.  The library sends a cautionary email a few days before any book is due and I either A) didn’t see the email B) deleted the email or C) didn’t get the email.  Option C is unlikely — librarians are not known for being slouches about notifications.   It was anything but missing — I was looking at it right here near me on the piano bench — so I yanked it from its place of rest and trotted it back to the library.  Instead of the huge fee that would have been due, the nice guy at the desk — without any cajoling on my part — charged me a couple of bucks and I went away smiling.  Even if the fee would have been a large one, I’m so grateful for libraries that I would have gladly paid it. A library is always a bargain.