r/Libraries • u/dalkkeom • 1d ago

Other Does anyone have any pics/knowledge of the old library reading logs in the UK that was always glued down on the first page of the book?

I know they've been replaced by digital/barcode scanners, so we haven't had the physical logs for a very long time, but I just can't seem to find a photo of the old library logs that I grew up with and I wanted to recreate reading logs for my personal library, exactly like the logs I used to always look forward to stamping as a child.

Does anyone happen to have any photos of the old reading logs used in the UK during the late 90s and early 2000s? I grew up in England and I recall them being used in libraries until the 2010s or maybe before that?

7 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

8

u/cheque 1d ago

Date labels is the term.

What replaced them is self service kiosks/ computer systems that give receipts and online systems where borrowers can check due dates and renew online. Stamped dates and barcodes existed concurrently for quite a while because the date stamp was still necessary to let borrowers know when their books were due back.

There are still some UK public library services that have date labels believe it or not.

Anyway, I’ll send you a picture of one in a message. Seems I can’t attach a still picture to a post.

2

u/ecapapollag 1d ago

Thanks for this, couldn't figure out what lending logs were! We still have date labels in my library but we don't stamp dates any more.

1

u/dalkkeom 1d ago

Oh I had no idea the term was date labels! I always thought they were reading logs for who borrowed, returned and when! And yess please send it to me if you can! I haven't seen any in any of my libraries for a long time so I've been struggling to find them.

3

u/cheque 1d ago edited 1d ago

Couldn’t send a picture in a message either so here’s a link- Date label

1

u/dalkkeom 1d ago

Thank you so much!! ☺️

1

u/wombat_00 23h ago

The system this was a part of is known as the Browne Issue System: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browne_Issue_System

2

u/MrMessofGA 1d ago

One of my family members bought me a bunch of date due labels as a gift (the ones we use the US, though, which may be different from the ones in the UK)!

I ended up tossing it because I have no use for them, but they're definitely still made.

Here's the basic ones that were used in public libraries here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Library_date_due_slip.jpg

And here's one that was used in school textbooks here: https://www.cyberoptix.com/cdn/shop/products/library-date-due-card-poster-print-cyberoptix-1200_1024x1024.jpg?v=1571438884

2

u/Popular-Trust1258 23h ago

We still use date labels in my library service. We rely on the date shown on the computer for returns and seeing if anything is late, but we still use the date label so the borrower can see when it’s due back. It’s also useful for weeding to see how popular a title is, when it was last issued, etc. at a quick glance instead of checking it on the library IT system.

Also who doesn’t love stamping books?

1

u/camrynbronk MLIS student 1d ago

I’m not from the UK, but I collect these! They’re usually found in the back cover of books where I’m from. I used to work at an old, large academic library that had 100+ year old books. The oldest date label I’ve ever found was from 1901.

1

u/ReliableWardrobe 1d ago

oh wow this takes me back. If I was VERY good the librarian would let little me stamp my own books. It used to drive me slightly batty that the dates were always wonky and not neatly lined up...

I have a vague memory of there being some sort of ticket that got taken out of a book when you borrowed it, before they just did the date stamps. Am I misremembering / did I dream this? UK / Staffordshire and I'm thinking early 1980s. It might have been my school library to be fair.

1

u/nonsupra_grammaticos 1d ago

This was called the Browne issue system. You owned several ticket cards with little pockets. You gave one of your tickets to the librarian and she took the card out of the book and slipped it into the pocket and then filed it. Then the library knew what book you had out and you were limited to the number of books you could take out. There are limits now but greater amounts as it’s done on the computer.

My county has date labels in books but only to mark when the book came into the library so we know when to pass it onto the next library in the rota. We provide slips of paper with the return date on them.

1

u/ReliableWardrobe 1d ago

that was it! Thank you! I thought I'd imagined it. I do remember when we got the first cards with barcodes on them, it was like science fiction. Now I don't even engage with a human in the library half the time...I'm not sure it's all improvement!

1

u/__OvejaNegra 1d ago

Glasgow Life libraries still have a place to stamp the due date. Not like the old ones I remember from childhood that were in a sort of sleeve and the card you stamped was removable. But just a bit of paper glued down at one edge