Stamping a Library Card
Mar 21st, 2008 by satisfyte
Stamping a library book slip is an endangered satisfying experience, soon to be completely extinct as a result of being replaced by scanning a bar code, but it’s worth searching for. Why do you think Belle was so obsessed with books- Reading?? Psh. That’s what she wants us all to think. I’m pretty sure her poor provincial town didn’t have book scanners, and we all know she read that book about “far off places, daring sword fights, magic spells, a prince in disguise” twice. She already knew the story, so why would she keep taking it out? The answer is now clear - the date stamp.
I have fond memories of bringing my weekly chosen book (usually a ‘Draw 50…’ I was a really big reader) from library class up to the circulation desk in elementary school, grabbing the sharpest pencil I could find (mechanical even better), neatly printing my name on the designated line, and watching the librarian use that muddy old date stamp to press a permanent account of my lease on that little card. God forbid it’d come out splotchy or crooked! But it was still satisfying to hear the dull thud of the stamp in the ink pad and watch her press it onto the card.
Even better if they let you stamp it yourself! Then you could just line it right up however you wanted, douse the thing in ink and press with all your might.
Stamps in general are pretty satisfying, but they can be dangerous. There is a lot of margin for error, including but not limited to:
- uneven distribution of ink, with blotchy spots or faint spots
- stamping something crookedly
- pressing, then accidentally lifting the stamp and pressing again in the wrong spot, creating a double image
- Getting ink on the sides of the stamp and pushing so hard it makes an inky frame
But, for some things, you have to be willing to take the risk. In some of the smaller towns, there are bound to be libraries that still rock the card catalog and the back of the book stamper card. It is your mission to seek these out, grab a musty old dust-jacketed book, open its crinkly, weather-worn cover and look for the coveted borrowing slip. Remember this the next time you watch Beauty and the Beast. It gives “with a dreamy far off look, and her nose stuck in a book” deeper meaning, doesn’t it?
(4 votes, average: 3.75 out of 5)
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