On their surface, bookmarks may seem to be a very prosaic subject for a blog post, even one like this which tends to center on reading and libraries. Well, yes, bookmarks are prosaic. There are a plethora of them, especially at the public library! The public library provides a variety of bookmarks to its patrons. These bookmarks have several jobs to do. First, they help protect the pages of the books from morphing into bookmarks as pages are turned down to mark the reader’s place. Second, and perhaps more importantly, they help advertise important information about the library. Thus bookmarks can provide contact information for library branches or suggest other titles or authors to explore.
Our temporary library cards for new patrons double as bookmarks!
Here are some of the library’s author/genre bookmarks.
My favorite type of library-provided bookmarks, though, are the ones our young patrons craft themselves. I like to think that while they are busy creating, the artists also are considering into which book they will next slip the results of their labor. And hands down, these bookmarks are the favorite of our patrons too. I have seen adults seriously study the current selection of kid-crafted bookmarks to make sure they pick the very best one.
You can probably guess the relative ages of the artists who designed these cards.
I’ve already stated that the library overflows with bookmarks. Not all of those bookmarks are provided by the library, however. Patrons contribute on a daily basis to the huge collection of bookmarks which have been abandoned by their readers in the books they return to the library. These bookmarks run the gamut from handmade pictures from children or grandchildren to fancy embroidered or laminated bookmarks complete with braided tassels. Then there are the myriad of other items which have been called to serve as bookmarks: library receipts, unfilled prescriptions, postcards, photographs, mail opened and unopened, napkins, coupons, and toilet paper (which I fervently hope is unused).
Just a tiny sampling of the many bookmarks left in the library.
Bookmarks, I have noticed, serve another function before they ever get anywhere near the inside of a book. I’ve been privileged to tour many different museums lately, including the gift shops. Every museum gift shop I browsed had bookmarks for sale. Often children want to purchase a little remembrance of a cultural outing. However, many children do not have a lot of funds for buying all the many cool items the gift shops offer. In the “kid section,” bookmarks thus offer an acceptable purchase for young buyers. It is not candy. It is non-consumable. It shows the parent who probably provided the purchase price that the purchaser tried to rise above the trivial when making said purchase. Plus, maybe the bookmark will actually be used as a bookmark!
Now I must admit that I am not above the type of dilemma I’ve just described. Last summer I toured the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis, Tennessee. After the museum we went into the gift shop where I saw lots of cool things I wanted but probably should not afford. Okay, I did get a couple of CDs. But I also bought a bookmark. It’s not just any bookmark, though. It is a laminated photograph of Isaac Hayes’ 1972 Cadillac Eldorado. This actual automobile is on display in the museum, and it brought back many a memory to this Memphian born and bred. With strains of his music still rolling through my brain, I felt that I must purchase this bookmark. The automobile was presented to Mr. Hayes to commemorate the success of his Black Moses record album. I proudly showed this nifty souvenir to the children’s services librarian, but she could only identify Isaac Hayes from a television program. So this quirky bookmark also served a cultural and historical role as I explained why the Hayes name would resonate with a previous generation and learned why another generation would connect Isaac Hayes with South Park.
This bookmark does more than just save your place in a book!
Most readers use bookmarks– whether store-bought or fashioned from something around the house. Why should we care about bookmarks? Sure, bookmarks save our places in our current reading material. They can also connect us to our own kind. If we come across a former reader’s bookmark, we feel the bonds which link us to other readers strengthen. Moreover, bookmarks promise that our leisurely or intellectual conversation will continue. After we deal with the duties that life requires of us, we rely on those bookmarks to direct us back into the thoughts. dreams, and expressions which help raise our lives above the quotidian.
readmegirl 