What I Miss

Oh crap. I might be turning into Andy Rooney.
The other day I checked out a library book that had the little pocket in
the back to hold the card that they would stamp the due date on. I have
seen them in years; everything is barcodes now. At the first public
library I went to they would stamp the cards then photo graph them with
this huge machine. I can't imagine having to store all those film
canisters or even have to go back and find a book. I wonder if they had
to use them in some sort of torrid checkout dispute.
In junior high and high school, especially high school, I spent a lot of
time in the library. I'm pretty sure that I was the only one in jr high
that knew the school acutally had a library. I checked out quite a few
book, probably confusing the student assistants by forcing them to do
their jobs. I would always check the card and see how full it was, how
often the book had been check out or even when the last time someone had
it out. I felt particularly good if the book hadn't been check out in a
while. Maybe the book was lonely.
I remember reading lots of military airplane books and teen sci-fi
novels. I especially liked the reference books. They were special
somehow. You couldn't check them out so they had to be special right?
Anyway, the lack of checkout cards make me feel that I'm the first
person to crack that volume. that little weird link with readers that
have gone before is gone. Not a huge loss, but a loss none the less.
Ah crap, I forgot to make a witty,crumegonly joke at the expense of kids
these days.