Amelia Bedelia's First Library Card - by Herman Parish

 

September is Library Card Sign Up Month!

Something that will make me (and my library colleagues) cringe is hearing patrons say they want to "rent out" a book. We do understand that they want to borrow the book, or check it out, nevertheless we correct them. This isn't because we want to embarrass them, it is because we want to ensure that there are in fact no misunderstandings, since so many people also confuse the campus library with the campus bookstore (which does "rent out" books). And because some people actually do not understand that they can borrow the books for free from the library.

In this story Amelia Bedelia joins her class in a trip to the town library in order to get a library card and check out her first library book. And even though she uses the phrase "checking out" when referring to the book in her hand she discovers that in a library that means she wants to borrow the book to take home, not that she is simply looking at the book. The misunderstanding means she goes home with the wrong book. One misunderstanding leads to another, but in the end lovable Amelia Bedelia makes a friend in the librarian.