Overdues

You might think I have overdues on my mind because of the time of year. Almost time to gather up those books and make your shelves look perfect( like patrons have never touched them). But no, that is not the inspiration for this blog topic. I got my email update from American Libraries and the lead story was about a book returned to the library after 145 years. This is the title of the article. Book Pilfered in Civil War Returns to Washington and Lee Now I have some overdue stories, as we all do, but 145 years!!! The story of the book's travels is enough for any good children's author to write a book. Maybe I could write that story!!!!! Anyway, the story caught my eye because of a dear friend who is working for that university right now. She said it was big news there in Lexington and of course, it also made the Washington Post. Most of our overdue stories don't make the papers, but I do think it is important we consider how we treat our patrons with known overdues!It is frustrating when our students keep books long passed their appropriate return time, however, with our young ones, k-12, we can certainly help them remember, give them tips to keep their books safe and offer to renew if they just haven't finished reading it yet. We are in the teaching business afterall so we let's teach each one the proper library manners and do it with great warm fuzzies. These memories can last a lifetime, just ask any adult about overdue books. I have a million of those stories, tool