Sometimes, a game I like to play with myself or a nearby coworker is, "What Do Patrons Do To Library Materials to Make Them Look Like This?"
The rules are: Pick up a book/DVD/CD/talking book/magazine...whatever. Examine this material and notice scratches/tears/smells/breaks...whatever. Wonder aloud what the patron(s) could have done to make the library material look like this. Extra points for being as creative as possible.
Ex: "What do patrons do to library materials to make them look like this? Were they playing frisbee with this magazine? Playing with sandpaper and this DVD at the same time? Letting their teething child hold the CD for a while?"
You just have to wonder, that's all I'm saying.
If I was an inventor, I'd invent some heavy-duty cases for DVDs and CDs. This wouldn't eliminate the scratching once people got their hands on them, but maybe it would help with the cases that aren't built to last. I've broken CD cases in my own collection - all you have to do is look at them funny and they shatter.
It's a problem at the library because so many people have their hands all over everything. I heard a patron complaining the other day that they could always tell when a smoker had the book out previously. And one patron tried to slip a book in the book drop that she had dropped in the bathtub. Oh, the stories I've heard.
Needless to say, we use a lot of hand sanitizer over at the library.
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