Big Problem!!!?
Question:Okay I went to the library yesterday and got 6 books. I came home and i decided to read outside they were all in a plastic sack in a box beside me. My friend Mya called so I kinda forgot about them. I ended up spending the night at her house and I forgot about the books completely. Later it thunderstormed and rained all night. I didnt realize it until i got home that they were there. They are all wet and I hung them up to dry. Is there any chance they will be fine? If not i will have to pay a lot of money so I hope they will be fine. This was a mistake I will never make again. I wasnt sure which category to post this in.
Answers:
There's only a very slim chance those books will be ok. The paper will probably become warped and curly. Some pages may stick together. I'm so sorry this happened to you.
Try to find the ISBN numbers inside the cover pages of each book. Then go to Amazon.com, cheapbooks.com, or sites like that (Alibris is another) and start looking for the cheapest replacements. I can promise you that you can replace them cheaper than the library will charge you for replacing them. But 'fess up, first. Call and tell them what happened and ask if you can buy new ones to bring back to them.
If by some chance they do dry, then stack them up and put something REALLY HEAVY, like a concrete block or two on top of the stack. Renew them by phone as many times as you can while the weight of the blocks presses them back to as near 'flat' as they can get.
Good luck.
The books will never be the same - most likely they will mildew.
Start planning on how to pay your library back.
Just watched this on TV. To save the book, you have to put a piece of waxed paper between each page. Then you have to let it air dry and keep flipping through the pages to let them dry evenly. All this takes a couple of weeks. Lot more trouble than it's worth. I would call the library and tell them what has happened. They may charge you a pro rate amount on the books depending on their age or may have a policy that might let you slide. It's sure worth a try.
I don't know about drying the books, but my dog once ate a library book. I notified the library and they told me what it would cost for them to replace it. I asked if I could buy it myself and they agreed. If your library is like mine, you will save a LOT of money by shopping around and buying the books yourself if you do need to replace them.
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