Lending Library Suggestions, Please

@Robin, I WISH I could go to the seminar!  🙂  But that’s quite a distance for me (MN), plus I’m going to the LER and our state’s convention this year.  I think my hubby would just glare at me if I even mentioned it…  LOL

I am loving this thread, though!  I am going to start looking at some ways to catalog my books.  I have it all in Excel right now, which, as you can imagine, is not at all easy to work with when it comes to lending or putting in barcodes (if I get to that point) or anything else.

And where do you get library pockets/cards &/or barcodes?  And how do you take off old library doo-dads like pockets and barcodes, etc?

What is a book plate??

I have a stamp with my library’s name that I put on the main title page.  I just got it from the office supply store.

Below is the process I go through when repairing books and getting them ready for circulation.  Let me say emphatically that this is what I do…NOT what you should do.  And also know that I’ve not gotten very far in this.  As I said, I wear many, many hats (don’t we all) and I don’t have nearly as much time to spend on this as I’d like.  When my daddy was alive, he would offer to play with my young son while I had a “marathon day” in the library.  That was then…this is now.

Also I get all my library supplies from DEMCO…demco.com.  I think they also sell an instructional DVD that teaches you how to do these repairs.

So…

Each book is a separate case, like a patient in a doctor’s office.  I look at each book and evaluate what it will need.  If I’m lucky, all I need to do is enter it into my database, stick in the barcode, add my library stamp and put the label on the spine.  Done!  But those are few and far between.  The following steps are done as needed.

First the book is entered into my database along with the call number according to Dewey (I use a “tweaked” Dewey which means I shelve books according to how we will most likely use them.  For example, historical fiction is shelved by its place in history, not in fiction as Dewey would.  So Boy of the Pyramids is shelved in Anc. Egypt.  Same for science, arts, etc.  I show that it’s fiction by attaching a round yellow sticker to the spine below the label.)  I write the call number in pencil in the book on the main title page.  The barcode goes inside the back cover toward the bottom unless there is a dj.  Then I usually put it on the opposite page.  I get my labels from Demco.  You would need to call them to order.

Exterior

First I remove any stickers on the book using a product called Undo.  It’s a liquid that you squirt on the book and use the scraper included to scrape off the sticker.  I must say that I hate this step and if the sticker is not overly noticible, I leave it.

Next I clean all hardback books with the book cleaner Demco sells.  It works great.  Sometimes library rebound books will fade when using this so I test a small area, and just use a very small amount  or just wipe over it if it does.

If there is a dustjacket, I cover it with a mylar cover.  These can be pricey so if the dj is already covered and the cover still looks nice, I leave it.  This is my favorite part of book repair.  I could cover dj’s all day.  I will cover a dj even if it’s tattered or pieces are missing.  It offers a measure of protection to the book and can increase the value of the book.

For worn spines or frayed spines, I use clear book tape.  Demco sells a great tool to hold the tape and book in place while you apply it.  I waited for a sale and bought it.  Doing thousands of books made it worth the price.

If the book is special…older, more rare, very popular, etc., I cover it with a crystal shield.  These are heavy plastic covers that you insert the cover of the book into.  These are ordered by the size of the book.

Interior

Iniside I mark out any other library stamps.  If the stamps are on the pages, I use a scrapbooking marker that won’t bleed through the page.  If they on the inside cover or on pockets, I just use a cheap black marker.

I erase any pencil marks.  (I had one Freddy the Pig book in which EVERY line was underlined!!!  It must have been the way a child kept his place!)  If there are pen or crayon marks, I write “crayon noted” or something similar so I know that it was there to begin with and a patron isn’t held responsible.

I use hinge tape on loose hinges.  (And easy fix and worth have a roll around.)

If there are places that are pulling away from the cover, I use a TERRIFIC glue called Norbond.  I dip a skewer in it and insert it between the cover and the book to adhere it.  This glue is VERY strong and is used for many purposes.  Definitely get some!

If the cover is broken away from the book itself, I use single-stitched binding tape.  It creates a new hinge better than the first.  This is an easy fix, believe it or not, and if you can do it, you can snatch up those otherwise expensive books for next to nothing and repair it yourself.

I tape small tears with Scotch tape (yep, the one in the green package.)

If a tear is large, I repair with with Norbond.  Dip a skewer in the glue and roll it down one side of the tear.  Put the page back together and put wax paper on either side of the page.  When it’s dry, just peel off the wax paper and you’ll hardly tell the difference.

If the webbing is showing somewhere in the middle of the book, I simply put a bead of Norbond, insert some wax paper until it dries and peel it off.

For pages that have come out, the process is similar to large tears.  Roll the skewer coated with Norbond down the edge of the page.  Beginning at the top of the book, slide the page into the book.  This makes sure the glue is dispersed down the entire page and spine.  Again, allow to dry completely with wax paper between the pages.   My mom found Mama Hattie’s Girl by Lois Lenski for a quarter at a flea market.  A page was completely out.  After the repair, it was good as new.  I later found this same book for $300.

When the book is repaired, I put my stamp on the main title page and add the label on the spine with the call number.  I just type these up on address labels.  I usually process 60 books at a time because that’s how many labels I can get on one page of labels.

For paperbacks, I either put clear book tape down the spine for reinforcement or, if it’s a nicer book or special for some reason, I cover it with clear laminate.

I’ve probably forgotten some things, but I just basically take each book as it comes.  It’s probably overkill for most people, and as I said, my books are far from complete (and I’m always buying more so it just puts me further behind.)  If I were going to choose a couple of repair materials, it would probably be hinge tape and Norbond (Jan Bloom buys this stuff by the gallon!)  You probably already have Scotch tape on hand.  You can do a lot of repairs with these few materials.  If you have other questions, I’d be happy to help.  If you need help deciding what to get from Demco, I can help you find what I get.

Yes, it’s probably weird.  I am weird about a lot of things.  But it is fun (except for scraping off labels and stickers.) And it’s the best way to get to know your books.  When patrons ask me if I have a particular book or one about such and such topic, they’re amazed that I can pull it immediately off the shelf.  But when you handle them so many times, you get to know them.  

And I think I’ll copy it into a word doc myself so I don’t have to retype all that again. 

Oh no…we always use the books.  That’s the main reason we have them in the first place.  My boys are constantly saying, “Momma, do we have a book about ____?”  And we go downstairs and pull it/them off the shelf.  One night we went out to the barn to milk, and a screech owl was perched on the stanchion!!  It was VERY exciting and we and the owl stared at each other for a long time until Natalie (the cow) decided she had waited long enough, then we made it fly away.  The boys ran back in the house and when I came through the library, they had all my owl books scattered across the floor.  Our next FIAR story time was…Owl Moon.    And two boys from our library have checked out nearly every book on birds I have.  When they came to the library this week, they brought us a screech owl house they had made.  They had researched exactly how to build it for that particular bird.  So special!

I do try to plan ahead a little bit and pull the books I know we’ll need, particularly for history.  If someone asks for it I either tell them it’s checked out or find a comparable substitute.  It is a juggling act sometimes especially at the beginning of the school year when it seems everyone either needs books about Ancient Egypt or the Pilgrims, depending on whether they’re doing world or American history.  Then everything spreads out and it settles down. 

I usually don’t keep duplicates unless I know there’s a high demand.  I have some dups of Burgess, the D’Aulaire bios, other bios that cover more than one person, as I said.  Also, for example, I have two copies of Archimedes Takes a Bath and have one in bio and one in Anc. Greece.  Not that I need both but since I have them, that’s what I’ve done.  I can always weed out if I’m pushed for more shelf space.  I have dups of many FIAR books and other books in those totes for the shelves.

And, yes, start working on those books NOW.  I can’t stress that enough.  Even if you won’t “open” your library for 8 years.  I’d give anything if I had been doing that those years I was waiting, a few at a time.

4myboys, I have mentioned it in passing at my co-op, that I’d love to start one, and immediately everyone was interested!  So yes, there is demand for it.  I am west of the Mississippi, and I have heard that there may only be one on this side of the River?  And it’s in OR.  I’m in a small town, and our small library just doesn’t have the books we want.  And we have to wait and wait for them to come in on ILL.  Which is why I hate using the library.

Robin, just pulling out what we need sounds perfect.  They are, after all, my books that I’m lending out.  🙂  Seems like a “duh” moment on my part.  LOL  Thank you so much for taking such time to answer all of our questions!  I love you use the Dewey decimal system to order your books, minus fiction.  Do you have a portion that really is just fiction, such as for board books or preschool picture books and such, or is that all by subject, as well?

Now to get a few moments to work on this a bit.  We are painting this weekend and part of next week, then I need to pull out summer clothes and bigger sizes, and I’m sure there are lots of other big projects calling my name, but this is definitely going toward the top of my list (much to my dh’s dismay, I’m sure LOL).