LIBRARY PRODUCT OF THE MONTH : Triple dose

     I was flipping through the Library Store catalog, and these are my picks. None of them could be here in person to accept the honor, but I'm okay with that.
ABSORENE BOOK CLEANER
     Looks like Play-Doh! I totally wanna play with that. But it also looks kinda gross, like some creepy medical supply thing. Or The Blob. I can only hope someone names their daughter "Absorene."
     I'm not sure how to use it, but someone has helpfully rolled up a little blobby cylinder of Absorene and placed it in the picture, so maybe that's what you're supposed to do. And then eat it.
BOOK SYRINGE
     This book syringe comes with glue, with which to inject books with faulty binding. The syringe helps you get the glue into those tight spinal areas with accuracy, so you don't accidentally paralyze the book. There is a side effect I should warn you of, though. If you use the syringe on the same book too many times, and then STOP injecting it, the book can go through withdrawals, and completely fall apart. Night sweats, vomiting, shitting itself. Sometimes a book just doesn't recover, and must be discarded.
CLEAN-COVER GEL
     The TRULY hip library worker uses "Clean-Cover Gel" in their HAIR. For that "original supple feel."

LIBRARY PRODUCT OF THE DAY : Demco Clear Book Pockets

The picture from Demco's online catalog
     Discovering these clear book pockets was like a revelation. Typically, the book pocket goes on the front inside cover of a book, but what if there's a MAP there, or some other really cool thing that you don't want to cover up?! How do you deal? Even if it's just a list of the rest of the books by that author, someone might want to KNOW that. It might be IMPORTANT.
     Normally I put the pocket on the back of the following page, but then there's always the worry that some other well-meaning library worker will come along and think there is no pocket, and possibly apply a new one OVER whatever the cool visual thing on the endpapers is. This is not acceptable. It would ruin EVERYTHING. You don't want to ruin everything, do you?
     The solution I had come up with before the life-changing discovery of clear book pockets was to place a label on the front inside page noting that the pocket was on the FOLLOWING page. This is not ideal, but at least it's better than covering up awesome endpapers, such as you find inside Scott Westerfeld's "Leviathan" series.
(Ugly white label reads: "NOTE: card pocket on next page")

     But now that I have the clear pockets, I can breathe easy, knowing that on a book like Sy Montgomery's biography of Temple Grandin, the book pocket can be exactly where it needs to be AND not obscure Temple's totally rad map.
Where's the card pocket? I assure you, it is there...

See? I told you.

     In case you are interested, here's the link to the product page on Demco's website: http://www.demco.com/goto?BLK94694

LIBRARY PRODUCT OF THE MONTH: Double-decker book display stand!

The clever double-decker book display stand is the one on the LEFT, obviously. I mean, DUH.
          Oh my god, I was SO excited when we saw these listed in a library catalog. (I think Demco, but maybe Highsmith) The description said you can use them to display thematically linked titles together, but oh there's so much MORE you can do...
          I hadn't quite figured out how to put them to use, so when somebody donated some of these No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books, as soon as I got them processed I ran and grabbed one of the handy-dandy double-decker book display stands.
          I don't care that those particular books are probably not the most enticing reads for teens, don't they LOOK nice when displayed thusly? How does that one stick up higher than the others?! Is it LEVITATING?! It's like magic!

There it is from the back! What a sneaky scamp that double-decker book display stand is!
          There is one slight problem: if someone actually picks up the book on the lower part of the double-decker stand, the weight of the book on the upper part tips the whole thing over backwards. This might cause some alarm and shame, especially from some of our more timid students. In a way, this almost makes the stand BETTER, though.
          If it's a nice kid who inadvertently tips the stand over, I will tell them it's no big deal and just fix it myself. If it happens to a CRAPPY kid, I will yell, "WHY WERE YOU TOUCHING THAT?!" and write them a detention for their clumsy destructiveness.
          Actually, even with both books in place, it's kind of tricky to get the balance right so it doesn't topple over. I'm willing to accept this minor flaw, though, in a product that doubles as a clever display and a sly trap for the unwary.