>Pet peeves can be contagious. I caught this one from one of my favorite reading teachers. If you’re reading around me, never never place your book face down on a counter or table or dressertop. Such carelessness ruins the bindings. Since my classroom books have to last many years, I reinforce paperback bindings with book tape and teach kids to use bookmarks. I model this behavior in my own life as well.

The picture above was an “After” from a before/after set, It’s still not immaculate, and never will be. The pile between the “bookends” is a pile of unorthodox bookmarks.

Tickets. I rarely throw away tickets. I don’t scrapbook, but I use the tickets from plays and concerts and sporting events as bookmarks. This small act preserves the book bindings and provides a new life for a reusable piece of cardstock.