Being accused of something you didn’t do is BS.
I was accused of not returning a book once. Now if you have read my earlier experiences with librarians, you would know that I treat the library as sacred. It allows me to discover many things that I otherwise couldn’t afford. I would not put my library membership at risk for something like not returning a book.
There was no doubt I knew that I returned the book and gently tried to get the librarian to look deeper into the system. I told her that I have never been late with a book, and in fact, return them early. She said that I can’t check out any books until I return the one that I didn’t bring back.
I realized that I would need to do this person’s job for her. I went to the library stack where It had been returned, and I brought the book up for her to look at. She was puzzled and then realized that because they had multiple copies of this book, that’s where the source of the problem had come from. She would have seen that in the system if she had looked. She said she was wrong and that I could check out books.
What is even more incredible is this is a library to which I had donated books. I worked in companies in my life that often get books that they give to employees and so I gave them a pile of books in the past as a donation. I am not saying this to say how wonderful I am, but just to say that when you treat people as thieves you often hurt the very people who are supporting you!
Librarians are individuals and most of them are wonderful people. There are always a few people who are ready to believe the worst in people.