This week I experienced a first at the pub. Now any of you who have worked in a library for a while have probably already experienced this, but I’m still relatively new to the Pub world.
What was this new experience, you may be wondering?? Was it that wonderful moment when a patron thanks you for all your hard work? Or when a child draws a picture of your story time for you to hang at your desk? Or when a teen comes back to tell you that he or she loved that book you recommended?
Oh no.
It was that magical moment when a patron writes a passive aggressive note and tapes it to the cover a book before dropping it off at circ.
This particular note was not addressed to me specifically, but the library as a whole. But since I found it, I'd like to claim it.
It was written by a mom of a young girl who recently came to check out some picture books. She notes that they are “saddened that ½ or 6 of the 12 books needed repairs.” I’d like to first point out that I am aware that ½ of 12 is, in fact, 6.
She also “taped pages and repaired one spine” because she does not want her daughter to see “destroyed books.”
She goes on to tell us how many thrift store books she has repaired and that she brought her daughter to the library because she wants her daughter to “care deeply for your books.”
She has underlined this last line, as if to point out that we need to learn to do so as well.
While I appreciate anyone who cares deeply for books, I do not appreciate someone assuming that just because there are worn out books on my shelves then I must not actually care about books. If I didn’t care about books, I would not be a librarian.
Period.
When books are worn out, that is typically a sign that a book has been checked out by many patrons. In fact, I daresay it is a sign that a book has been deeply cared for and well loved by many, many other children and families.
Sure, there are books on our shelves that are falling apart. That happens. Unfortunately, we cannot inspect every book as it is reshelved. Most likely, if we are not told it is damaged, we don’t know to fix it. Nor can we afford to replace every book with a torn page. Your public library, as in any other business, has a (likely very limited) budget. And believe me, we are open to any and all donations. Feel free to buy us some new copies of your favorites!
So, dear patrons, if you come across a damaged book from your local Pub, tell a librarian. We will be glad to do our best to repair or replace it if at all possible. As our head of tech services put it “Please don’t put scotch tape in my book. Just tell me!”
Understand that when a book appears to be falling apart that it has likely been read over and over and over. Rather than assuming that books are not being cared for, perhaps you could teach your children that when a book looks like that it means lots of children have held and read and loved that very book.
If that isn’t magical, then what is?!
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