Reading Reward
Most readers will agree that reading books, at least some of them, is rewarding. However, according to a story in the Natchez Democrat posted on the blog, Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind, the reward can turn into cash. The story :
When Michele Anderson started to pull a mystery novel off the shelf Tuesday at Armstrong Library, she noticed a bulge under the dust jacket. And with her background in library work she had to check it out.
"I felt something in there, and from my time working here (Anderson worked cataloguing books at the library in the late '80s and early '90s) I just had to straighten it out and felt in there and pulled it out," Anderson said. "I thought, 'Whoa. Wait a minute,' and I took it to the librarian downstairs."
"It" was a substantial sum of money, and Anderson and Susan Cassagne, the library's director, are trying to identify the money's rightful owner so they can return it.
"We want to make an effort to find whose money it is so we can give it back," Cassagne said.
Cassagne asked that details, such as the amount of money and the title of the book it was found in, not be included in this story so that she can identify the money's rightful owner. Anyone who thinks they may have left money in a book they checked out more than a year ago can contact the library.
Unfortunately, because the library switched to a new system and tried to ward off the Patriot Act, they have no record of who the money belongs to. And what if no one claims it?
As if all that weren't complicated enough, there's the matter of what to do with the money if it isn't claimed. Cassagne found an opinion from the Mississippi Attorney General's office about a similar case.
In that case, money was found in a paperback on an exchange table, where patrons were invited to leave old books and pick up any they wanted. But since those books were not the property of the library, the opinion found the money wasn't either and one lucky patron got $1,100 out of the deal.
Cassagne said she believes if the money is not claimed it is the property of the library, though she said she would like to thank Anderson in some form.
Cassagne said this isn't the most unusual thing she's found in a library book.
"I found a spaghetti noodle once," Cassagne said. "We find a lot of love letters, pictures, that sort of thing."
When Michele Anderson started to pull a mystery novel off the shelf Tuesday at Armstrong Library, she noticed a bulge under the dust jacket. And with her background in library work she had to check it out.
"I felt something in there, and from my time working here (Anderson worked cataloguing books at the library in the late '80s and early '90s) I just had to straighten it out and felt in there and pulled it out," Anderson said. "I thought, 'Whoa. Wait a minute,' and I took it to the librarian downstairs."
"It" was a substantial sum of money, and Anderson and Susan Cassagne, the library's director, are trying to identify the money's rightful owner so they can return it.
"We want to make an effort to find whose money it is so we can give it back," Cassagne said.
Cassagne asked that details, such as the amount of money and the title of the book it was found in, not be included in this story so that she can identify the money's rightful owner. Anyone who thinks they may have left money in a book they checked out more than a year ago can contact the library.
Unfortunately, because the library switched to a new system and tried to ward off the Patriot Act, they have no record of who the money belongs to. And what if no one claims it?
As if all that weren't complicated enough, there's the matter of what to do with the money if it isn't claimed. Cassagne found an opinion from the Mississippi Attorney General's office about a similar case.
In that case, money was found in a paperback on an exchange table, where patrons were invited to leave old books and pick up any they wanted. But since those books were not the property of the library, the opinion found the money wasn't either and one lucky patron got $1,100 out of the deal.
Cassagne said she believes if the money is not claimed it is the property of the library, though she said she would like to thank Anderson in some form.
Cassagne said this isn't the most unusual thing she's found in a library book.
"I found a spaghetti noodle once," Cassagne said. "We find a lot of love letters, pictures, that sort of thing."
posted by Bob Liter at 5:54 AM
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