"UN"HUMOR: The "mother" of all damaged books :(

["Joanne E. Ladewig" <shatz@LIGHTSIDE.COM>]

Hi folks:

You may recall that I shared earlier this week (1-4-00) about New Year's
"library resolutions." Well, I now have a new damaged book to share as a
sample of what we DON'T do to library books . . .  :(  !  Can anyone top
this story?

The book (which was brand new this year and had only one prior checkout)
was FINALLY returned yesterday, 2 MONTHS LATE! I had been very persistant
about getting this book back. I was so happy to have it back from that
cherubic, sweet-faced third grade girl that I didn't notice the front cover
(our barcodes are on the back cover) when I scanned it in. Since this a
"DRAW _______ " book it was immediately checked out by a boy in the same
classroom. Within 2 minutes the boy brought the book back to me and said it
had pencil marks, so I took a closer look . . .

1. The front cover (this was a white pre-bind cover) was covered with all
sizes of dirty spots: green, red, and two shades of brown, one dirt and
another from some type of dried liquid.

2. Inside the front and back covers were heavy pencil scribblings.

3. The bottom edge of the book pages near the spine and towards the middle
were lightly stained and slightly sticking together (from something like
apple juice, perhaps).

4. Inside the front cover, the book had TWO definite shoe "prints" from a
child's althletic shoe ("sneakers" to you on the east coast;) !)

Wait! It gets better!

The little girl had been telling me all along that her older brother had
taken the book from her to use himself, and that's why she couldn't return
it. Finally, I called to speak to the dad (No mom at this home :(  !) but
ended up leaving a message about the book and our policy that siblings NOT
share books, since they frequently lose or damage them.

After the book was returned and I discovered the abuse, I went to speak to
the older brother (5th grade). He told me (but wouldn't look me in the
eyes. . .) that he had seen the book left on the floor, put it away in his
room to protect it from further damage, and that the pencil scribbling
(which looked VERY preschoolish) was done by their preschool cousin.

Normally, I would have charged for minor damage to a book, cleaned it up or
repaired it, and put it back into circulation, but in this case (after
consulting with the vice principal, who agreed with me) I decided that the
book should be fully paid for, and replaced. I'm keeping the book
(non-inventory status) - it's a great example <sad face!> to use at
orientation!

Today I had an opportunity to show it to a 4th grade class as we discussed
book care and "library resolutions." All of them clamor for drawing books,
so I told them, "This one has been late for two months! That means that for
TWO MONTHS all of you have been cheated out of using it! Now, because of
the abuse, it's being taken out of circulation forever," emphasizing that
someone had abused OUR book - that this book belongs TO ALL OF US!

I wish you could have seen the expressions on their faces when they
realized that they'd "been cheated," and again when I made the point about
the book "belonging to ALL of us." This class is a bit on the rowdy side,
and to see the "lightbulbs go on" really made my day!

O.k., so can anyone "top" this tale of woe? Must be more than 4 different
"abuses" in one checkout period!






Joanne Ladewig
Information Center Director
Fairgrove Academy - a K-8 public school focusing on
   the Visual and Performing Arts, and Technology
La Puente, CA
jladewig@ns700-1.enet.hlpusd.k12.ca.us
home email: shatz@lightside.com

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