The pleasures of reading a library book older than me

Mr. and Mrs Bo Jo Jones was a good read made better by the physical copy of the book I was reading. Some of the fun features:

Buckram! That’s that hard wrapping that used to be put on all books when I was growing up. This was before it became standard practice to retain the book cover, but fortify it with plastic. I prefer the new method, but the texture of buckram is something I enjoy.

This book also has an older style barcode. The barcode is only a backup measure. The book is checked out using RFID, which is a small chip placed inside the front cover of the book.

It’s also got an old-style sticker on the spine and a highlight on that old-style sticker. I’m guessing the highlight has something to do with how the book is stored at the library.

The paper was thick and stiff, much more so than books I read today. It made the pages easier to turn and the relative heft was appreciated.

And inside was the best treat of all: the old checkout pocket. I was sad when these were eliminated, because I liked to look back and see how often a book was checked out. Also note that at one time this was a 28 day book with no renewals. Now books are checked out for 21 days with unlimited renewals.

The second page in the pocket tells us that the book was checked out infrequently over three decades and was shelved in the “Young Peoples” section. The author of this book wrote it for adults, though it has been categorized as “for teens” since the 60s.

And on the front page, a stamp identifying the Multnomah County Library. I’m not sure why the library association is listed in parenthetical, but I’m sure there was a committee brought together to decide that.

And one more stamp on the top!

4 thoughts on “The pleasures of reading a library book older than me”

  1. New to me word: BUCKRAM! I feel like I should have known that before now.

    I like that your hoodie(?) matched the color of the buckram!

    Did the book also smell good? It looks like it would!

    1. It smelled like the Boise Public Library always did. And that smell has always reminded me of vomit, in a low-key way. So it didn’t smell good, but it did smell familiar.

      I didn’t know the term either until the library had a display once upon a time. And wrote a post about. Which sadly exists without the picture, thanks to the Blogger–>Squarespace–>WordPress transition. http://www.stenaros.com/?p=2958
      Someday I will go back and fix all those pictures.

      I hope you are feeling better!

  2. Also Hi!

    It has been awhile (thank you job hunt, author visits, Sara life in general, etc.) and I needed some PCC time!

    I have a quiet Friday in store – getting over some tummy ick that left me eating only toast, saltines, and broth yesterday – and wanted to start that day with some Orange Door time. I fear saltines are the menu item for today as well… That is neither here nor there.

    HI!

    And happy Friday!

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