today my conscience is clearer; i've finally returned a few books that i've been hoarding for ages from the shapiro science library @ um. i'm not proud to admit that i've kept one of the books [1] for over a year's time .. possibly since winter of my second year!
amongst members of the math dept, it's close to some sort of racketeering: a grad student or faculty member can borrow a book and renew it indefinitely, so dozens of mathematically useful books are eternally "checked out."
sure, there's always the option of recalling a book, but most of us are too spineless to exercise that right. my own excuse is that books are expensive to buy, and if the borrower needs the book, i'd rather not disturb their use; i can always make due.
as a result, one often sees these email forwards from the math adminstrative staff, where someone just wants to borrow a particular book for a day or a few hours, in order to look something up or parse through a proof.
i know: it's ridiculous, and one can't help but wonder at the state of affairs, when a mathematics library has been fully "staked out."
[1] for those curious: the book is measure theory and fine properties of functions by l. craig evans and ron gariepy.
a fine book: they don't hesitate to discuss the details, and i've found the contents rather useful in my own work and study. one day i might splurge to buy my own copy .. but not today or soon.
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