Book Monster!

One of our minor frustrations at the library is a peculiar quirk of patrons returning books. Some walk to the outside book drop on the side of the building, away from the front door, to drop off their books only to immediately walk back to the front door and right past the inside book drop next to my usual desk before browsing the stacks. Others walk past my inside book drop next to the door as they enter and hand stacks of books to the checkout librarian at the desk further back.

In the first case, this was extra bothersome if they had overdue items which I would have checked in almost immediately if they had been returned to me. Our options were to berate people for being stupid, or get creative. We chose creativity. As a trial run, we used a summer reading cardboard cutout to frame the inside book drop. Blue glitter googly eyes enhanced its fearsome face.

Of course, cardboard isn't very durable, he wasn't really designed for this job, and some kids seemed scared of Sharky McSharkface, but he did draw a lot of attention to that slot. After this success, we started planning a more permanent book drop mascot. Ms. C donated an extra bath mat. Ms. M the youth librarian raided her art supplies for felt, buttons, and pom-poms. I had a stash of pipe cleaners from an old grab-and-go craft kit I had assembled during the COVID lockdowns. Ms. A got busy assembling, and I helped take some measurements.

Yes, I also had even bigger googly eyes on hand, although not glittery this time. He has big pom-pom warts, two small button nostrils, and a big button below his tongue.

Now we need to name this fellow. At present, we have narrowed our ideas down to "Booker T. Chompington" or "Dewey Seymour Books." Your suggestions are welcome if you think you can do better! We'll hold a drawing with our patrons to choose his official moniker, and I'll make him an oversized badge.

Much better. We even deliberately left space on his left side for that eventual badge.

Don't worry, he doesn't bite. He does absolutely devour books, though!

Oh, and if you're curious about that red plane in the window, it's this 3D model.

How much is that airplane in the window?
The one with the red plastic frame?
How much is that airplane in the window?
Please print one exactly the same!

I printed one with the frame and one without in one run, since I could fit both on the print bed at full scale, and it coincidentally cost $1.72. I was mildly amused.