It happens every year, starting three weeks before the first day of school: the annual migration of parents and children to their local libraries. They are looking for copies of the books assigned for summer reading (There are the rare early birds who do this in June, getting the books read before summer activities and travels).

The first few who come through the door find several options on the special display of required books; the rest find empty shelves where the now-checked-out books recently sat. Most accept this, resigned to buying books online or at the local bookstore; a few put a hold on the library copies, hoping they will be available in time to read before school starts. Others get upset, calling the library useless and stomping out the door.

I understand the frustration and disappointment these migrators feel – I feel the same when I show up at Market Basket or Trader Joe’s on a Monday morning and find empty shelves. If I continue to show up at the same time with the same expectations, I’ll end up with the same empty shelves and the same disappointment. The only way out of this is to change my migratory pattern, to show up on a Monday evening or a Friday morning when the staff has restocked the shelves. If I do this, if I change, I’ll find what I need and then some.

It’s not easy to change our patterns, but it’s possible. It takes effort, it takes a change of perspective, it takes a certain flexibility to adapt to the world as it is rather than expecting the world to accommodate our current patterns. Perhaps this is the first lesson of every school year.