TARGET: Book Damages

[Brenda Strack <2di4@UPSTEL.NET>]

Greetings!  I'm a relatively new media specialist and I could use your
wisdom.

Today, a teacher brought a book to my attention which she had taken
off the shelf. To my horror, she showed me that the book had been
drenched in chocolate milk!  The cover looked fine, but the pages
where brown, crinkled and stuck together.  Bright green mold could be
seen on the inside of the front and back covers.  It also happened to
be our only copy of the award-winning book, Lincoln Photobiography.

Over the past year I have seen pop tart, rotten banana, and other
mysterious substances smeared on books.

In addition, I have noticed that many of our brand new books  have
been scribbled in with marker, crayon and pen.  (At least I can erase
the pencil scribbling!)  Some of these incidents are neglect and
others are intentional.

I started having the kids check their books for damages before taking
them out of the library.  When the books come back, I look through
them.  Very time-consuming.

How do you handle this problem?  Do you charge fines or make them pay
for the book?

I would greatly appreciate your advice!

Brenda Strack
2di4@upstel.net