Every summer I fall in love with the library and a few months later we break up.

It usually begins when Ashley needs books for summer reading and I get the bright idea to venture out to the library and save myself some money. While we are there looking for her books I become all excited by all the books I see that I want to read. “All these wonderful books for free? Why don’t I come here every week?” I ask myself. I get all giddy when I flip thru the cds and see music I love. Think how much money I will save by checking out the cds , adding the songs I love to my Ipod without the Itunes charges.

Then I stop by the videos and decide that my kids must see Season 1 and 2 of the West Wing and The Sound of Music. After all they are free. With books , cds and videos I head home feeling happy,thrifty and wondering why this love affair ended.

Fast forward thirty days. The reason for the demise of my relationship with the library becomes painfully clear. I find books and movies all over the house. They are in my car, under the couch and sitting on the kitchen counter. The only place they are not is at the library. I shamefully do a two hour search for all property marked Commerce Township Library.

After securing all the items I take them to the Circulation Desk and hold my breath as she gives me my total amount of fines owed. Turns out those movies that we never watched are a dollar a day after seven days. Ouch! The book and cd fines aren’t quite as painful but they add up to a pretty hefty sum.

When all is said and done I would have been better off at Borders and Blockbuster.

While I count out my money I am painfully aware of why I “broke up” with the library last summer. It’s not them, it’s me.

When it comes to checking out items, I am the queen. I am great at the beginning of the relationship. It seems to be the returning part that I have trouble completing. Apprently I am just not ready to committ. Maybe if I had tried harder we could have made it work. But for now I think it’s best if we spend a little time apart.

I haven’t given up hope that one day when my life isn’t so hectic I will be able to make a commitment to the library and be the kind of patron they deserve. But for now I will tuck my library card away and move on.