An effective lie.

So, somewhere I somehow lost a book on the history of Satanism that I was reading, though I'm not sure how or where.

So, because my school has a "buy a replacement copy" and "a thirty-five dollar processing fee" policy in these types of situations, I ordered a replacement copy, and I also cooked up a story that the book was stolen out of my bag when I left it on the coatrack at a bar downtown, on the off chance that that would let me wiggle out of the $35 "processing" fee.

When I spoke with the circ supervisor, then, I told him my story, and I was like, "You know, I had one other library book in there, but that one was left alone, I bet it was some drunko who stole the book just because it was on Satanism!".

I gave him the name of the bar, too, for a touch of realism.

"That happens a lot," he was like.  "Some of the most stolen books at public libraries are on Satanism and witchcraft."

And, he then waived the $35 "processing" fee for me.