On stamping...

I've spent a lot of time in the law library lately. So I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to notice the disclaimer on the large "stamp" used at the circulation desk where I check out research materials. (I say "stamp" because really it's not a stamp in my mind. A stamp is what my Young Women leaders would use to decorate homemade greeting cards. This thing is a spring-loaded, foot-tall, complete-with-interchangeable-date-plates-ink dispenser of doom; an apparatus only the true librarians can handle.) Anyway, here's what the label on top says in red capital letters.

"Please do not stamp personal items. Stamp is for library materials only."

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Why on earth was this disclaimer necessary? Who would want "Howard W. Hunter Law Library[DATE]" stamped all over their stuff anyway? Is wildly stamping anything in reach really such a temptation for law students that it happens frequently? And was that really so offensive to the librarians they felt the need that the stamp must be made exclusive? That the sacred name of the library not be allowed to touch non-library materials?

I think what this really means is that I've spent too much time in the library. And that I very possibly need a life outside of law school.