Feb 6, 2012
Guess who got a library card?
Saturday, January 25th…another proud library user was born!
He was so excited he called my parents to tell them about it.
I have to admit I got a little teary, watching his little hand grip the fine-tipped Sharpie and print his “signature” on the back. I can’t believe he’s old enough to do all that.
I will also admit that it wasn’t intended to be quite so meaningful. Our library system has recently instituted a 30-book limit per card. I had just been to the library for the kids, which meant I easily checked out 30. But then a few days later, Orison and I were running errands together when I remembered, “Dang! I have a book on reserve for my book club that I need to pick up!”
I tried to check it out on my card, but the computer promptly scolded me that I had already reached my limit! So, being the genius that I am (and not wanting to leave without my book), I turned in beautiful slow-motion and meaningfully placed my hands squarely on his shoulders and cooed to my precious firstborn…
No wait…this is me we’re talking about here.
TAKE TWO!
I quickly solved the problem, whirled over to my son and very practically said, “Hey you wanna get a library card and check my book out for me?”
So his first check-out will seem rather odd:
The Falcon’s Feathers by Ron Roy
and
Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
Is getting a library card a rite of passage in your family?
OR
What is the most library books you’ve ever checked out at one time?
lol! That is exactly how my eldest got her library card. But we have a 50 book limit here! They don’t check in your returns until later in the day it’s easy to max out a card. To prevent meltdown of the largest kind since one kid hadn’t even had a chance to check out any of her books yet, we got an additional card. I think more most is right around 50. We homeschool so sometimes a lot of them are for that. I have to limit the kids. I used to tell them a number. Now I just tell them they have to be able to carry their own bag without complaining.
We used to do this in our family when I was a kid- we could max out 3-4 cards in one visit!
how do you keep track of the books? when i did use the library, i would take out a handful and it would HARD for me, as a single person, to keep track of my books. i can’t imagine trying to keep track of all those books!
i have a horrible habit of being late with returning books so i don’t have a library card anymore. however, i use my boyfriend’s card to check out ebooks for the Kindle, which makes it very easy to check & return books, with a simple click of a button!
Just a suggestion – we keep a basket in our living room that is just for library books and videos. It has really helped to keep track of things and makes it more difficult to misplace them in the house.
keep all library stuff in a canvas tote – makes keeping track of everything easier, plus it lets you carry everythin back!
When I was a child, there was a 10-book limit, and mom would only take us to the library once a week, which was not often enough for me. Once I got scolded by a librarian for trying to check out 10 books in the same series (which apparently wasn’t allowed), then again for losing one of those same books. I insisted I hadn’t lost the book, but had turned it in on time, and long story short, it turned out I was right! That was a great day for my eight-year-old sense of justice. :)
love this story. i still remember getting mine…and then a few years later being so unhappy with my kiddie handwriting “signature” hahaha! ;)
i always had traumatic library experiences – one summer i checked out almost 30 paperbacks (our library had no limit on paperbacks) and never brought them back. scared of the fines, i hid them in my closet for YEARS and never went back to the library.
eventually i found out they didnt fine on them either!
i have a few other library “horror” stories but that one is the most memorable. ;)
The town we lived in when my oldest daughter was little required kids to be 5 YO to get their own card. So we went and got one on her 5th birthday! The city we live in now lets kids get them at any age, so I got a card for each kid (even the baby!). That way we can disregard that silly 25-book limit they have:)
I’m planning to become a librarian so seeing a little kid gain access to a world of books warms my heart! :-)
Getting a library card was a huge deal to me as a kid because in our small-town library, the limit was THREE books per card. After a few years they raised it to ten. Then as an adult I moved a couple towns over where the library was larger and thought it was amazing to be allowed to check out 25 at a time!
I don’t recall the largest number I ever had out (probably 25!) but I do have a vivid memory of paying my highest fines ever… over $60, ouch!
The most books I ever checked out at once was 111 for a library school project. We had to take 2 FULL book trolleys out to the car to get them all transported. :-)
I remember getting my first library card very distinctly. I can’t remember what age I was, but probably around 6. I didn’t see it so much as a rite of passage as something necessary for life. My mom is a librarian, so it goes without saying that we always had a lot of books around while I was growing up.
Love it! I remember being so proud of my first library card. I totally took ownership of it. I made sure that all my books were brought back in time (because a ten cents fine on my record was too much for my first-born pride to handle) and cherished having my own stack of books in my room. I think I became an English-Literature major in part because of all my library time as a kid. Good memories.
My family lives the library! I think I’ve had 90-something checked put at once. That was before the 30-book limit, of course. My 2 oldest now have cards as well do we can keep the house full of books. :)
So exciting. I suppose it was a rite of passage in my family. I remember my mom telling me that this was a big deal because now it was MY responsibility to take care of the books… I do not know what she actually said about that, but I remember thinking “I really need to be careful or else the librarians are going to come arrest me if I mess up or loose a book.” Somehow that is how whatever she said about being responsible translated to me.
The other thing I remember about getting my first library card was the librarians in aw of how old my mother’s card was. She had a “vintage” card from 15 years prior. I have not followed in her footsteps, though, because I lost mine about 6 times in middle and high school and had to pay $1 each time to get a new one.
My children are all grown. When they move to a new city and I go to visit for the first time, they always show me where their new library is. What a fun legacy.
I have had up to 35 books checked out from my library all by myself. My children think I need an intervention sometimes.
I got my library card when I was 5 years young, and still have that card with my sloppy 5 year old “signature” :) It is kind of a rite of passage in our family, and we go to the library frequently, so its handy to have more than one library card in our family.
Cute post! And congrats to Orison on getting his card.
That is a pretty funny story!
But what a milestone!
I wouldn’t call it a rite of passage, but I did make it a big deal for my son.
AND I was a HUGE bookworm when I was a youngin’. I won’t even say how many books I checked out, because no one will believe me. :)
{p.s. near triple digits}
Sarah’s key is an amazingly good read. I love, love, love borrowing books from my public library. It allows you to try so many authors, & genres. Probably the most I ever borrowed at one time was 15.
Happy reading!
My kids are grown up now, but when they were younger and in (home)school, they each took a milk crate to the library and stuffed it…we were dairy farmers at the time so it was convenient…milk crates sure are sturdy with convenient handles! Our librarian loved to see the kids with their piles!
We have maxed out two cards at once….100 books. It was too many….I’m pretty sure the boys lost a few, then had late fees until I found them. I think our librarians are very kind to us…we drive a ways to get to the big library, and they have occasionally waived fees for us. The kicker is that this librarian, Darlene, worked there when I was a kid!
He looks so proud! :)
When I was homeschooled as a kid we spent a ton of time at libraries and after that stage it became a place my sister loved to go hang out at (even as middle school kids). It helped we could get hot chocolate for a quarter and use the computer–5 kids didn’t give the youngest much of a chance.
Sarah’s Key is a great book. I read it while IN France (main setting) and that was difficult but also made it more real. Enjoy!
I totally remember the big deal of signing my first library card with a sharpie. Yay Orison! But I love even more that you had him get it because you had a book on reserve. awesome.
We can not get enough of the library. All those English books! All for free! And now when we go back to Africa, with a Kindle, we can still get books. YEAH!
I was bumped right up to the limit – 97 out at once before they took the limit down to 30. We do tend to have books go AWOL for a while, but so far they’ve always turned up…eventually (we do buy a few new books every year through our “contributions” to the library (ie. fines). I try to mostly keep them in the living room in their own tote, but even still they end up under the couch and under the rug. I did have one that showed up as missing that I kept renewing and eventually discovered that I had returned it and it was back in the book bin at the library. That was a happy day because usually when I’m sure I’ve returned them, I haven’t.
Not only did I checked out 50 books all at once, but it was 50 children’s books all on biomes! My 4th grade class’s research project.