Library Fine or Not?
Read this notice and email. Library notice: 'All library books are due on Friday 12 May. Fines are 0.20 euros per school day late. If you are ill, ask a parent to write a note. Bring the note within three school days of returning the book and the fine for the illness days will be cancelled. Lost books must be replaced or paid for; the price is on the spine.' Email from Anu to her teacher: 'I returned The Hobbit on Thursday 18 May. It was due on 12 May. I was ill from 10 to 16 May and have a note from my mum dated 16 May. The librarian says I owe 1.00 euro. Is that right?' School days: Monday to Friday. There were no school holidays in this period. You are helping in the school office and must answer Anu's email using only the notice.
1. Using only the notice, calculate what Anu should pay if she brings her mother's note on Monday 22 May. Show each step.
Read the worked answer
Due date: Friday 12 May. Returned: Thursday 18 May.
School days late: Monday 15, Tuesday 16, Wednesday 17 and Thursday 18 = 4 days.
At 0.20 euros per school day, the full fine would be 4 × 0.20 = 0.80 euros.
Illness: Anu was ill from 10 to 16 May, which covers Monday 15 and Tuesday 16-two school days. The notice says the fine 'for the illness days will be cancelled', so subtract 2 × 0.20 = 0.40 euros.
Correct payment: 0.80 − 0.40 = 0.40 euros.
The note deadline: within three school days of returning. Returning on Thursday 18, the three school days are Friday 19, Monday 22 and Tuesday 23. Monday 22 May is therefore within the deadline.
Answer: 0.40 euros.
2. The librarian says Anu owes 1.00 euro. What is the most likely mistake, and how does the notice support your explanation?
Read the worked answer
1.00 euro is five days at 0.20 euros. Four late school days are documented (15–18 May), so five days suggests the librarian counted either the due date (Friday 12 May) as a late day or a day after the book was returned, or added a weekend day.
The notice counts only 'school days late', so Friday 12 May should not be charged when it is the due date, and Saturday/Sunday are not school days. Alternatively, the librarian may have ignored the illness cancellation, but that would still give 0.80, not 1.00. The most consistent explanation is an extra day added to the four late school days.
Anu should ask which five days were counted and point to the notice's wording 'per school day late'.
3. If Anu brings the note on Tuesday 30 May instead, what should happen under the notice, and why?
Read the worked answer
The note is late. The notice requires it 'within three school days of returning the book'. Returned Thursday 18 May, so the deadline is Tuesday 23 May (Friday 19 = day 1, Monday 22 = day 2, Tuesday 23 = day 3). Tuesday 30 May is well outside that window.
Under the notice, the illness cancellation should not be applied, so the full four-day fine of 0.80 euros stands. The office might choose to be kind, but the question asks what the notice says, not what a sympathetic librarian might do. This tests the difference between a rule and a favour.