Old Library Books

I finished 84, Charing Cross Road last night (and adored it) and look what I noticed when I reached the end. This is how I know a library book is old - it has a pocket! (Old being a relative term, of course.) Does anyone else remember these? 

I remember them from my early years of having a library card. Sometimes the librarians would even let me use the date stamp on the check out card! And bonus, the pocket meant I could be nosy and see when the book was last checked out, how long it sat on the shelves before being picked again, and count to see whether blue, purple, or black ink had the most dates to its name. (I may have had too much free time.) 

I'm sure the librarians were eager to see them go in favor of our current digital system, but I indulged in a little nostalgia for the pocket and card system last night. :)

linking up for wordless Wednesday


Comments

  1. I loved that book, too! The number of books we have left with pockets in them is very low; I think that system was eliminated in the 90s here. It required more tedious, manual work for the staff, but I agree it has nostalgia value - like card catalogues!

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    1. It's rare to find a book with pockets here too. I think we switched to digital methods at a similar time - probably 16 or 17 years ago, in the late 90s. Ahh, card catalogues. I stumbled upon some great reads that way.

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  2. Ah yes! Sometimes I look at these things and it makes me a wee bit sad my own kids won't have the same experiences as I did growing up. Things are just so different now and the pace of change so fast!

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    1. Yes, exactly! I didn't have a computer or a cell phone until college, but I know that won't be the case for my kids. I wonder how much more will change by the time I have kids and they start to grow up.

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  3. I loved the card system and the pocket for other reasons. You could see when the book was last borrowed, and how often it was borrowed. And who borrowed the book. And if you'd already borrowed it. And how popular the book was.

    Great when you knew the people, like in a school library. If if you had a friend/competitor in reading.

    For a while after the demise of the card, they still dare stamped a slip in the inside cover and you could still see the frequency of borrowing. Then that went the way of the printed receipt. I know the librarians can see borrowing data, but as a borrower I loved it too.

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    1. Agreed! I would love to see what books are most popular at my library and who is reading what.

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  4. Ah! Both that book and the old car system! I also feel sorry that kids today can't 'play librarian.' We used to love it if we were allowed to stamp the books or organise the cards in our old primary school library!

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    1. Using the date stamp made me feel so grown up! :)

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  5. Don't know what happened to my typing! Should say: only one if. And should say date stamp.

    BTW, loved Charing Cross too.

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  6. Oh the memories this brings back! I used to like to see who checked out the book before me too. :-)

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    1. It would be cool if there was still some way to see that info!

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  7. I can't hardly figure out how to use a library any more!
    Please share at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2014/08/frooms-with-linky.html

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  8. Oh yep - I love finding the old check sheets - and have at times, handwritten my due date on there, cause that was what was good about them! I can imagine it made it easy to work out which books weren't moving (in a look at every book way!)

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    1. So true. I bet librarians love having all that info/data at their fingertips!

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  9. Is it bad that I just saw the film. Don't know how it compares but nostalgia fits.

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