When I was a kid, I used to walk to the public library once a week. I’d pick out a few new books and return or renew the checkout of the ones I grabbed the week before. Occasionally, I’d blow off a few weeks and would end up owing that small town library a little change in fines.

I hated paying the fines. It wasn’t a matter of money. Digging up a few nickels wasn’t that tough. I hated paying the fines because that meant I had to see a particular librarian. She was shaped like Shrek, wore her hair in a massive beehive, and breathed like a horror movie serial killer. There were issues with slobber, too.

Well, now I’m all grown up and don’t live anywhere near that particular library. The creepy librarian of my past has been replaced by a collection of teenaged volunteers who look like they’re on break from an Up With People tour. There’s nothing scary about our current public library. It’s well-lit, reasonably organized and absolutely fantastic for kids. I like our public library.

I also like its impact on our finances. My wife is a voracious reader and the public library undoubtedly saves us several hundred dollars in book expenditures every year (though Borders still gets a massive chunk of change from us) between her and our book-loving little girl. You can grab a movie at the library, too. And it’s all free.

That’s a personal finance hint, by the way. The public library offers things you would otherwise buy for absolutely nothing. Make use of it.

If you would’ve asked me two weeks ago, I would’ve had to really struggle to come up with something negative to say about our library. That all changed when we received the letter.

It was a mystery letter from a mystery company with one of those completely unrevealing names that don’t give you any clue as to what’s actually inside. It was a collection notice.

What account had we overlooked? What seemingly invisible bill had we failed to pay for so long that it went to collections?

Library fines. We owe the library a whopping $37. And they sent it to collections.

They see at least one of us every week. They continue to let us check things out and they usually don’t even bother to ask about paying a fine. They are so darn pleasant and accommodating that we don’t think they’ve ever mentioned this particular fine. It’s over a year old. The $37 is spread over three weeks that missed their return date while we were on a vacation.

And they sent it to collections without even making a “hey, give me $37, okay?” phone call.

So, now we have a collection agency bugging us for $37. We have a nasty gray-if-not-black mark potentially sneaking its way onto our credit reports. Whatever happened to paying the creepy librarian a few nickels and moving on with your life, huh?

Well, after griping and complaining about libraries using collection agencies for small fines (sure, they have a right to do it, but I don’t think it’s the greatest PR move or the most efficient way of bringing in the money), I did a little research.

I’ve discovered that my public library isn’t the only joint who’s willing to stick the dogs of war on anyone who’s late returning The Dogs of War. This is a growing trend in the library biz, apparently.

The moral to this tale comes in two parts.

First, you can use libraries to your personal financial advantage and you should do so when possible. However, you need to realize that the repercussions of sloppy book-borrowing can come back to bite you in the FICO later if you aren’t careful. Don’t ring up fines or you can undo some of the gains you make by using a lending library in the first place. If you’re really bad about keeping track of your books, take a look at reminder systems like “Elf” or something similar.

Second, if you have a creepy mouth-breathing librarian who smells vaguely like mothballs and vinegar who demands fourteen cents from you when you keep a book for an extra week, stop whining and count yourself lucky.