Back when I was in sixth grade, I checked out the "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" from the Buena Vista Library in Burbank. Then I never turned it back in and I lived my middle school and high school years in terror of police showing up at my door and dragging me off to jail for my crime. The day after my high school graduation is the day I left Burbank, and I remember thinking about that book as I was driving away from Griffith Park and the Disney Studios. I felt both guilty and relieved- like I had gotten away with something.
(That's a true story, and for those of you who don't believe that a mix of that much dorkiness and goody-two-shoeness can exist in a single human, I'm here to assure you that it can, and has.)
Fast forward 22 years. J and Roo want their own library cards. PG has had one for a few years, so I give them the same spiel I gave PG.... it's a privilege, they have to be responsible for their own books, if they get a fine it comes out of their own wallets, etc, etc. We check out books. Two weeks pass. We troop back to the library to return their books.
The kids put all their books back in the deposit. I start fishing through my purse looking for their library cards. I can't find them. I remember that I changed purses last week, so they must be in there. I realize that the only card I have is Matt's (and when he ever did step into the library to get a card remains a mystery to me). I decide that we can check out new books using Matt's card. I hand the card to the librarian and she hands it back and tells me that there are twenty-five dollars in overdue fees on the card. They date back to 2012. She shows me the book titles. I vaguely remember checking the books out. Shoot. I can't blame Matt for this one.
I decide to model accountability to the children. Since the library takes cash only, and I'm only carrying $5 dollars, we drive to the nearest gas station where I buy a water and get $20 cash back. The gas station charges me an additional dollar for the trouble of using my ATM card, which I find ironic since I'm only using my card at the gas station because the library won't take it. I'm irritated. I shrug it off.
We return to the library.
A new librarian greets us and takes the payment. We give her the books we would like to check out. She then informs us that Matt's card needs to be updated and that he needs to be there to do it. We still can't check out any books.
I grit my teeth and tell her that since Matt is not here, and since I don't have my card OR the kid's cards, I'll pay the $1 replacement cost for my card. I am determined to check out library books. I am responsible! My children are responsible! We love reading! We love the library!
Now the librarian informs me that my card has $30 in overdue charges on it. This time, they date back to 2010.
I give up. We trudge back to the car empty handed.
I set out on this trip to the library wanting to show my kids a love of reading, and we came back without books.
I wanted to show them how to be responsible with their cards, and I couldn't find any of our cards.
I wanted to show them how to be responsible with their books and I had racked up $50 in overdue fines.
The lesson here is that if you want to know how to be responsible with your library card, just watch me and then do the exact opposite. Also, it's clear that I'm probably suffering bad juju leftover from The Witch of Blackbird Pond, so if anyone happens to know how to cleanse my bad library vibes, let me know. Thanks.
(That's a true story, and for those of you who don't believe that a mix of that much dorkiness and goody-two-shoeness can exist in a single human, I'm here to assure you that it can, and has.)
Fast forward 22 years. J and Roo want their own library cards. PG has had one for a few years, so I give them the same spiel I gave PG.... it's a privilege, they have to be responsible for their own books, if they get a fine it comes out of their own wallets, etc, etc. We check out books. Two weeks pass. We troop back to the library to return their books.
The kids put all their books back in the deposit. I start fishing through my purse looking for their library cards. I can't find them. I remember that I changed purses last week, so they must be in there. I realize that the only card I have is Matt's (and when he ever did step into the library to get a card remains a mystery to me). I decide that we can check out new books using Matt's card. I hand the card to the librarian and she hands it back and tells me that there are twenty-five dollars in overdue fees on the card. They date back to 2012. She shows me the book titles. I vaguely remember checking the books out. Shoot. I can't blame Matt for this one.
I decide to model accountability to the children. Since the library takes cash only, and I'm only carrying $5 dollars, we drive to the nearest gas station where I buy a water and get $20 cash back. The gas station charges me an additional dollar for the trouble of using my ATM card, which I find ironic since I'm only using my card at the gas station because the library won't take it. I'm irritated. I shrug it off.
We return to the library.
A new librarian greets us and takes the payment. We give her the books we would like to check out. She then informs us that Matt's card needs to be updated and that he needs to be there to do it. We still can't check out any books.
I grit my teeth and tell her that since Matt is not here, and since I don't have my card OR the kid's cards, I'll pay the $1 replacement cost for my card. I am determined to check out library books. I am responsible! My children are responsible! We love reading! We love the library!
Now the librarian informs me that my card has $30 in overdue charges on it. This time, they date back to 2010.
I give up. We trudge back to the car empty handed.
I set out on this trip to the library wanting to show my kids a love of reading, and we came back without books.
I wanted to show them how to be responsible with their cards, and I couldn't find any of our cards.
I wanted to show them how to be responsible with their books and I had racked up $50 in overdue fines.
The lesson here is that if you want to know how to be responsible with your library card, just watch me and then do the exact opposite. Also, it's clear that I'm probably suffering bad juju leftover from The Witch of Blackbird Pond, so if anyone happens to know how to cleanse my bad library vibes, let me know. Thanks.
I had racked up about $28 in fines before we left for Canada. Fortunately I found one of the books on Vivi's bookshelf and returned it (outside in the curb box out of embarrassment) so the fine was reduced. It's cheaper to encourage the kids to choose books from the room near the restrooms where they sell them for a dollar. There is even a 10 cent table.
ReplyDeleteThat's brilliant! My kids love buying from that table, and it IS cheaper. Why didn't I think of that before? Thanks!
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