Hi there,

I received a book yesterday that appears to be from a library. It has the sticker on the spine donating it's spot in the library, and a stamp from a library in New Hampshire or something inside. I went ahead and marked the book received, and added comments to this effect, but now I'm wondering if maybe I shouldn't have done that? Do I report this somewhere? What does everyone think I should do?

The book is probably a withdrawn library book.  Libraries often sell their books at their Friends of the Library sales when they're done with it.  If it makes you feel better though, you can always call the library, and they can check and tell you whether the book is withdrawn or in circulation.

Ex library books are fine.

Yes, more then likely it was a library discard. It would be nice if they would stamp it DISCARD so there would be no question.

I'm the director of a very small Library and I don't always remember to stamp them. But almost all the larger Libraries are on the computer and they can quickly tell you whether it is a discard. And you can PM the person who sent it and ask.

Dollar to a donut it's a discard. But I usually trust people.

Merry Christmas

This comes up every so often.  And the consensus is always the same...many libraries do not stamp their discards, thousands are sold at FOL sales.  They are specifically mentioned in the help topics as being allowed.  You are asking what we think you should do and so I give my opinion:  do nothing more.  Perhaps it is just me, but I would be offended if someone even 'sort of' insinuated that I was a thief.  And think about it, there isn't anything else you can call it if you are doubting someone's honesty in sending you that book. 

I've recieved library books as well. It has never bothered me, and I see why it's allowed as many used books are acquired this way.

Since ex-library books are allowed on PBS-if you don't want them you have to put that in your requestor conditions. 

I just received two wishlisted library books from other members so PM'ing the person who sent it to you may not help since they may have received it from another member from this site. Even if the library confirmed it wasn't a discard, how would you ever be able to track down the person who originally "borrowed" it from the library? For the record, both of the books I received are in great condition so I have no issue with receiving library books since I plan to repost them anyway.

Yep, library books are allowed, so if you don't want to receive them you need to make that part of your RC's.

I've seen the books at my library selling their books all the time. Like other people posted that many library's forget to stamp their books. I also will purchase books for them(they're cheaper than buying them from the book-store). Happy holidays everyone:-)

Are you thinking that the book is a current library book that someone borrowed from the library and instead of returning it, they posted it here, or are you wondering if an ex-library book is OK to swap?  PBS states in the guidelines that ex-library books are perfectly acceptable, so unless the requestor conditions state no ex-library books (as do mine), then they are totally OK to send and receive here.  That said, even though my RCs state no ex-library books, I have happily accepted many here when assured by the sender that the book had no strong odors.

I would assume it's a discard.  As long as you don't have in your conditions that you don't want ex-library books it shouldn't be an issue.  If you don't want them in the future, you could create a requestor condition about it.

Thanks everyone. I really don't care that it's a library book, I just thought they weren't permitted. Not sure why I thought that! Thank you!

As how to find out who originally borrowed the book, thats easy. If the book is not a discard just send the book to the library explaining what happened and that you are returning it.. Better yet ring the library and give them the barcode number from the book and they can easily find its record and who the deviant was that sent it to PBS. :0)

If the book has already been paid for via lost fees etc, you may be able to keep it. You would not be charged anything nor have anything to do with whomever borrowed it.

I have posted former library books and received former library books - which doesn't bother me. When I receive a request and it's for a library book on my shelf, I send the member a PM mentioning that fact, just in case they don't want it. So far no one has turned them down!

 Actually, I had the exact same idea. I thought ex-library books were not allowed to be posted, which bummed me out because I have many "discards"  from FOL sales I'd like to post. Now I've learned it's OK! So, good.

I know it's been said many times over, but I just wanted to point out the Help Center has the answer to most questions.  (which doesn't mean you shouldn't ask here...just that the HC might be faster. :-)

From the HC:

I received a library book! Is this allowed? Yes, decirculated library books may be swapped at PBS.

• Ex-library books often have stamps inside or on the binding: this is fine.  

If you receive an ex-library book that is not clearly marked "withdrawn" (not all libraries do this), you should contact the library to ask them if this book is still part of their collection.

• If the book is still part of the library's active collection, you should contact us.

If you do not wish to receive ex-library books, you should put this into your Requestor Conditions in your Account Settings.

We had a library sale Friday  that had 900 discarded audiotapes for sale. I picked up 40 of them. Surprisingly, the library separated the original cover from the tapes so the borrower took home a plastic audio book holder while the original cover stayed at the library. The tapes are in excellent condition. 

Yeah, I recently had another member mark the ex-library book that I sent him as "Rec'd with a problem."  Then, he sent me a PM saying something to the effect of "...library books should be returned to libraries, not traded on PBS!"  I was pretty surprised, first of all that he had never encountered an ex-library book, and secondly that he just assumed I had stolen it.  I thought it was pretty rude, he definitely could've handled it in a better way if he was genuinely concerned about library books being stolen.

Oh well...most of my interactions here have been great!