Eva was grumbling that her library receipt didn't match the date she actually checked out the book.

[conuly]

Probably because it was an old receipt from the last time it was checked out. And I told her that when I was a kid, we didn't get a receipt.

Eva: What, they just expected you to remember when all your books were due?
Me: No. See, in the back cover there was a little yellow pocket, with lines making boxes. And when they had the book, it had a card, which also had lines and boxes. You signed on a line, and they took the card and stamped a date on it so they knew who had it and when it was due. And they stamped the same date in one of the boxes in the book so YOU knew.
Eva: So they had lots of stamps for each day???
Me: No, the stamps turned so they could set it to different days and months. On a wheel.
Eva: (utterly sincere) That's amazing!

I didn't tell her this method is much faster, although you miss out on seeing who else checked out the book.

Comments

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

I could print on plain index cards. For that matter, I very likely have lots of old Manila folders that are being thrown out and can be repurposed as the "pockets".