Oh, the Places Library Books Go!

Submitted by Melissa Gunter

The library is a wonderful place to visit. Did you know that you can return any book to any library? That Elephant and Piggie book from your child’s school library? Just drop it in the book drop at the Cumming branch. The Amulet graphic novel you checked out from a Gwinnett County branch last year? Drop it in a Forsyth County library book drop! The Ultimate U.S. Road Trip Atlas you picked out at a book sale with a barcode from a library in Belvidere, New Jersey? Well, it looks like a library book, so you might as well return it to the Sharon Forks branch.

*Whew* Aren’t you glad you can check off “Return library books” from your to-do list?

Well, it’s time for the library staff to step in, because as we know: You can’t return any book to just any library!

What happens when a book is dropped off at a Forsyth County branch that does not belong to the collection?

Each branch has a particular way of doing things, but the gist of it is that the errant book will be logged and linger at the branch for a couple of weeks, just in case the patron realizes their mistake and comes back to retrieve the book. That’s the ideal situation. If the patron does not come back, what happens next depends on the book’s library of origin.

If the book belongs to any public library in Georgia, send it in the Materials bin with a note indicating the book was mistakenly returned to FCPL.

If the book has a barcode from a university library, an out-of-state library, or an out-of-state public or private school, contact the owning library, if possible, to ask if the book is still in the system (it may have been withdrawn). I’ve contacted libraries from as far away as Ohio and New Jersey who wanted their books back. If that’s the case, pop a note with the address on that prodigal book and send it to Tanya in Materials. She will send the book on its merry way home.

It is most common that a rogue book belongs to a Forsyth County school library. If so, branch staff simply need to put a note on the book listing its school library of origin, mark it "Attention: Brooke W.," and send it over to Outreach. When Outreach receives the book, we place it with a stack of other school library books until we have enough to fill a bin (or until the stack is in danger of toppling). 

This stack of books is almost ready to topple… and to go to the Board of Education building.

When we have collected enough books, we email Lisa Newberry, the District Media Specialist for Forsyth County Schools, and drive over to the Board of Education building to return them to her. She makes sure that all of the books return to the appropriate school, where they can be checked out by students and mistakenly returned once again to a Forsyth County Public Library!