You’re expecting this to be a children’s picture book, right? With a title like that, surely that’s all it can be. I’m sorry to say that no, it’s actually the name of a day in my own life, a day that I would just as soon forget, but I must share the wisdom acquired before I can in good conscience banish it to the back of my mind.
My husband had taken a large pitcher of lemonade with him to work. He does this from time to time; he works the night shift and the citric acid and vitamin C in the lemons help keep him awake. Well, while driving to work, the pitcher spilled, creating a huge puddle on the floor of the car. He sopped it up as best he could, and then he told me about the puddle, warning me not to set anything there. I blithely went about my errands, his warning echoing in my mind but not really registering, if you know what I mean.
I went to the library and stuffed my book bag until it bulged. Poor thing hasn’t had a moment’s rest since I bought it. I hefted it all the way out to the car and set it down. On the floor. In the puddle.
I then ran about another hour’s worth of errands, just enough for those books to absorb as much moisture as they could. When I got home and unloaded the car, I absolutely could not believe my stupidity. Half of the entire bag of books had been soaked to the point of wrinkles.
I’m sure you’re entertained by my little tale but you’re wondering what the point of this blog is. The point: Your public library has rules and regulations, and one of those rules is that we not set books down in puddles of lemonade. (Perhaps the wording isn’t that specific, but you catch my meaning.) However, to go along with those rules and regulations there are ways to make things right again, and they are called fees and fines. When you first sign up to get your library card, they inform you of the rules and they inform you of the fines. If you chance to transgress, you are given the chance to make amends through fines. Once those fines are paid, you are free to check out more books, wiser than you were before.
I encourage you to do the following:
1. Talk to your library and find out for sure what their fines and fees are. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say.
2. Take extra good care of your library books. Place them in the book bag carefully so the pages don’t get bent. And don’t set them in puddles of lemonade.
3. Pay close attention to when your library books are due. Some libraries put a sticker on the back; others give you a print out of everything you have checked out and when it’s due. My library even sends me an e-mail to tell me when due dates are coming up. Keep on top of when the books must be returned and you’ll stay out of trouble this way, too.
4. Keep your library books in a central location in your house. We have a crate that we call “the library book shelf.” If we take a book from this shelf, we are sure to return it there. This way, we avoid the books getting scattered all over and mixed in with our own books.
5. Talk with your children about the importance of taking good care of library books. We shouldn’t smear food on them, touch them with sticky fingers, read them while we’re in the bathtub, color the pictures, drop our drinks on them, lay them face down, etc. They don’t belong to us and so we treat them specially.
Hopefully, you (and I) can keep from having to make amends with the library. I’m usually careful to the point of ridiculousness, but that one moment of mental abstraction cost me $175.00 and now I’m even more careful than ever before.
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