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One of the best things about our jobs is that you never know what each day will bring. A few days ago, two 8th-grade boys came into the LMC. One of them had a book about NASCAR (auto racing) he had checked out from our library. The other boy, his friend, pointed to the boy with the book and said, "Mr. Bilmes, he has my grandfather's book. I have to give it back to him." A little confused, I asked him to repeat what he had just said. According to this student, he had borrowed the NASCAR book from his grandfather and had left it somewhere in school one day. Somehow, we had processed it and put it in our collection, and he had noticed that his friend had checked it out. He then opened the front cover of the book and showed me where his grandfather's name was neatly printed (twice on facing pages!). "My grandfather's been looking for this. I have to give it back to him," he said. Now, a cynical person might wonder if these kids were trying to pull a con game on the gullible librarian just to get this book. But I discounted that for two reasons: 1) I know the boy who claimed the book was his grandfather's fairly well, and he's not that type of person; 2) I could tell by the hand-written spine label that his book was processed by either myself or my aide, not a book we had purchased from a vendor. And to be honest, I had no recollection of how that book had come into our collection. We just listed it as a "donation." I asked the student if his grandfather would mine that the book now had our barcode on the back cover, as well as a date due slip and our school name stamped inside. He said he didn't think so. I checked in the book, deleted it from our collection, and gave it to him to bring home to return to his grandfather. I couldn't have made up a situation like this if I had tried! David Bilmes, LMS Schaghticoke Middle School New Milford, CT bilmesd@new-milford.k12.ct.us dudu4tigers@snet.net www.new-milford.k12.ct.us/SMS/LMC “When I read about the way in which library funds are being cut and cut, I can only think that American society has found one more way to destroy itself." Isaac Asimov -------------------------------------------------------------------- Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book. To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. * LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ * LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/ * EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://elann.biglist.com/sub/ * LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html --------------------------------------------------------------------