It’s the little things, the seemingly insignificant
issues that can really give you a headache. Like that miniscule coffee stain
you can’t scrub off the front of your favourite blouse. Or that tiny crack in
your windshield that seems to reflect every ray of sunshine right into your
eye. For me, as a church librarian, it’s the sticky stuff – or lack thereof.
Although I’m no luddite myself and would dearly love
to have the church library collection on a barcode system, the fact remains
that I must still process my library materials through date-stamped cards. This
is, of course, due to lack of space (the library also houses the church
photocopier and serves as a meeting room so it cannot be locked when a library
volunteer isn’t there) and our budget. As the card system has
gone the way of the dinosaur for many other church libraries, here it is alive
and well! Therefore, some of my headaches stem from problems that are difficult
to find solutions for as many of my allies in church librarianship have traded
in their date stamps for barcode wands.
And so, to the matter at hand.
Over the last four years, I have had my patience
tried and tested again and again with…..card envelopes. You wouldn’t believe it
to look at them but those pesky things can be problematic for one’s patience
and troublesome to one’s time. The issue is, they simply don’t stick. Oh, I
know I could take the easy way out and purchase self-adhesive envelopes but
then my priorities as a librarian would be definitely be defective. With my
shrinking budget and growing patronage, I spend every penny I can on materials
for the library and a very small amount on supplies.
I’ve used tape: scotch, masking and double sided (I
stopped at duct tape – that was going a little overboard)
I’ve used glue: sticks, white, clear and yes, even
super glue
None of these options worked. Some held out longer
than others but eventually, a patron would approach me with that cursed
envelope in one hand and a book in the other saying those dreaded four words,
“Can you fix this?”
And then, one afternoon while putting photos in my
son’s baby book, I had an epiphany! Double-sided mounting squares!! Often used
by scrapbooking gurus, these little sticky squares were easy-to-use, less messy
and, best of all, on budget!
Available at any craft store (in my case, Michaels) and with the use of those handy-dandy 40% off
weekly coupons, one box of these squares takes me a long way. With that in
mind, I breathe a huge sigh of relief and cross another item off my list. One
less thing to worry about!
