Mine did not.
My strategy at the beginning of the year, to remedy this lack-of-book drop situation, was to put a regular old cart by the door for kids to put their books on. I covered it in contact paper and put a sign on it. It seemed like a decent idea in theory, but people kept taking the cart. (There are few things more disheartening as a first-year librarian than finding your "Book Return" sign on the ground and the cart missing.) Then I would just put out whatever cart I had available when classes came, and if students or teachers popped in to return books, they would leave them on my desk, or my side table, or wherever . . . it was not a perfect system.
The librarian the previous year had cut a big laptop box (one that several laptops had come in--probably four feet high) so that it had a return slot, but my issue with that was you had to very carefully peel the lid off the box (it was on its side), and then bend over and take several trips to carry all the books back to the circ desk. It was a lot of effort and the books went everywhere.
Come February, though, the lack of any cohesive book return method was driving me crazy, so I took matters into my own hands. I told our very creative tech coordinator what I was thinking, and that I wanted to start using the box, but my issue with it was that it was so inconvenient to get the books out. The box was too narrow to fit any of our carts in, and did he have any ideas?
He did, as a matter of fact.
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| Phase 1--cover in butcher paper |
He went and got the basket cart that held our big books. I had all but forgotten it existed. He took out the big books, and slid it next to the box to compare sizes. It was the perfect width to fit. So I cut off the back of the box, redecorated it, and put it by the door with the cart inside.
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| Phase 2: Add letters |
Another convenient aspect of the laptop box was that it had some styrofoam padding, which I tore out of the box and and stuck in the cart to cushion the books (another idea from our tech coordinator). If you don't already have cushioning, a layer of regular styrofoam or anything else would work just as well.
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| Phase 3: decorate |
The cart was a little long for the box, so it stuck out the back, and since the basket wasn't huge, it did fill up quickly. But it was a much better system than what had been going on before, and the kids loved dropping their books through the slot. Plus, it looked cool.
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| Phases 4-5: cut out the back of the box, add cart |
This project was a good reminder that even if you don't have all the resources or materials you'd like, you can still do something with almost nothing. Repurposing things is so convenient and cheap--if you don't have all the materials you want or need, ask the custodian or other teachers if they have any items you can use. Another idea: if you have a cart you can slide into box like mine, but no basket on it, stores like target sell some pretty cheap crates that would work well. (I know I have several of these left over from college--repurposing project?)
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| Finished! |
Project breakdown:
Time: 3 hours (including cutting out letters)
Materials: box, glue, boxcutter, butcher paper, scissors, basket cart, giant box
Cost: free
Worth it? Yes!
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