I did not need those so I noticed an issue only after I wanted to return them. I decided to play it cool and pretend nothing had ever happened, hoping that the librarian will miss the faint stain and that giveaway waviness of the volume. The third volume, which developed a characteristic odour and some fungal growth, was exposed to some sunshine in expectation that lycopene would be bleached and the book would stop stinking.
Nope.
I was fined for light stain on the dictionary of law and the slightly moist volume was passed to the head librarian to evaluate.
Obviously, it was a study on swamp forests or forest swamps which was published as a part of some grant and it was not meant for sale.
The head librarian mailed me on Monday announcing that the library historians need to evaluate the book so that they could charge me for the loss.
Meantime, I made a few phone calls to the university, the publishing office informed me that these books are kept by the author, I mailed the author and in the subsequent exchange, he told me to drop by at the beginning of the winter semester and I promised him my history textbook; he wanted to be an archaeologist, he said.
The moldy book was published by my uni so I went to the bookstore. The shop assistant advised me to lend it from the library - it's been sold out for years.
Well, internetz to the rescue, at Google page 23, I found an advert.
The head librarian knows me by name, I'm a notorious offender, not in damaged books but in late returns, I study elsewhere, and she thinks I'm cool. Gotta bring her a box of chocolates.
