Have any overdue library books tucked under your bed, your car seat or hiding elsewhere?

Show some Christmas spirit this December and return those errant volumes to their rightful owner, the staff at the Greenville-Butler Public Library said.

&uot;GED and ASVAB test preparation books are, by far, the most common books to disappear from the shelves,&uot; Shirley Boutwell, assistant librarian, said.

&uot;We have people coming in every day wanting these books, and there must be 20 of them out right now.&uot;

When a book is not returned on its due date, the library first calls the individual to remind them to bring the book in, Boutwell said.

&uot;If the call doesn’t bring it back in, we send them an overdue notice in the mail…the next step is to send them a bill.&uot;

If that bill is not paid, &uot;library privileges are suspended until it is paid,&uot; Boutwell said.

Suspension means the patron cannot check out additional books or other materials, or use one of the library computers.

&uot;Once they either pay the fine or pay for the missing book(s), we will lift the suspension,&uot; Boutwell said.

Fine rates are 10 cents a day for books, and $1 a day for movies. Books on the reserved list, however, have fines of $2 a day.

&uot;These reserved books are in such high demand, we have to place a higher fine rate on them. &#8220

They also can only be checked out for a single two-week period. Other books can be renewed for an additional two weeks, either by phone or in person at the library,&uot; Boutwell said.

If you can’t pay your library fine, but you can put your hands on the overdue book, &uot;bring it back to us. There is no need to let that fine keep building up. Once you can pay it, your privileges will be restored,&uot; Boutwell stressed.

The moral of the story is this: keep up with your library books and other materials; return them when they are due. It will save everyone a headache.

&uot;Remember, they are on loan from us. We are not giving these materials away,&uot; Boutwell said.