Here’s One Way to Beat Those Library Fines

If you’re one of those people who takes out a library book but forgets to return it on time, you may want to consider going to the library to buy your next book. Then, you can keep it forever.

Lots of libraries have annual or even monthly book sales, where surplus, donated or older books are sold as a fund-raiser so new books can be purchased to improve the library’s inventory.

The Escondido Library, however, sells books six days a week in “The Shop,” the library’s own bookstore.

Roughly 2,000 books are on hand, ranging in vintage from turn-of-the-century to books published as recently as the early 1980s.

“Whenever we receive a new or good used book as a gift to the library, we see if we already have a good copy of it on our shelves,” said librarian Graham Humphrey. “If we don’t need it, we turn it over to the Friends of the Library. Or, if the gift book is not in good shape, we’ll give it to the Friends.”

The support group will then put the book up for sale in The Shop. It may go for 50 cents or $2, depending on the title and its quality. The Shop also sells locally designed stationery and note cards.

In the 15 months since The Shop has been in business, about $6,000 in books have been sold, Humphrey said.

Just how good are the books on sale? Are there any real treasures lurking among the titles? “If you’re a bibliophile, you might come across one,” he said. “But it’s mostly a matter of impulse buying.”

Now Hear This Our Navy friends have been told by the powers that be to watch their tongues.

Navy Secretary John Lehman has directed a return to nautical terminology, saying it is favored over the less nautical lingo introduced during the 1970s.

“Barracks” and “Bachelor Enlisted Quarters” are back in; “Unaccompanied Enlisted Personnel Housing” is out.

“Mess decks” and “galleys” are back in; “enlisted dining facility” is out.

Also back in vogue is such terminology as “ladder,” “topside,” “deck” and “passageway.”

Got it, mate? Portrait in Parsimony Behind the City Council dais at Coronado City Hall, along with the pictures of Gov. George Deukmejian and Mayor R.H. Dorman, is a flattering portrait of President Reagan.

Flattering, indeed. It’s not a picture from the White House, but rather a picture from the Governor’s Mansion. Yep, this is a portrait of Governor Reagan, circa 1966.

“We had this one lying around from when he was governor, so we thought, why not use it again and save 20 cents by not mailing for a new one?” said City Clerk Tom Patricola. And for the Well-Heeled . . . Seems that most people either love cowboy boots or hate ‘em. You’ll either die with your boots on or wouldn’t be caught dead wearing them.

People who shop at Cowtown Boots are your basic cowboy boot fanciers.

In addition to your regular cowhide boots, Cowtown sells exotic boots made of the skins or hides of the South American iguana, ostrich, caribou, water buffalo, anaconda, antelope, pig, shark, alligator and elephant.

Elephant? Yep. They’re advertised as “tough.” No doubt.

“People who like boots think they’ve walked into a candy store when they come in here,” said manager Bob Gisonno. The boots are made in El Paso, Tex., and shipped to company stores in nine states, including outlets in El Cajon and Escondido.

“Folks come down to town from their farms and ranches, and they just go nuts,” he said. “And a lot more city people seem to be wearing boots. It’s sort of a status, like showing they can afford them.”

Indeed. The lizard and elephant boots go for $119.95; the ostrich and alligator boots sell for $349.95.

To skeptics who wonder whether it’s legal to sell boots made from the likes of ostriches, American alligators and African elephants, Gisonno quickly pulls out a letter of approval from the state Department of Fish and Game.

“If you’re the kind of person who’s going to come in, look at a boot and say, ‘Oh, that poor snake,’ then you’ve come to the wrong place,” he said. Tuning In to the Competition Last Saturday night, San Diego State University alumnus Dan Weintraub was trolling up and down the radio dial in search of KSDO-AM so he could listen to the broadcast of the Aztecs-Brigham Young University basketball game.

He was holding his breath, though; KSDO has a weak signal in Carlsbad, where Weintraub lives.

Alas, he found the game, loud and clear.

Never mind that it turned out to be the broadcast by BYU’s home station, KSL Radio in Salt Lake City.