During the last class period before a final exam, my sorry-ass highlighter died. This was not a surprise. It had actually been dead for a long time. That night, though, that night I was going to do something about it.
I had developed an action plan for just such an eventuality during my first semester of library school nearly three years previous.
See, in my briefcase I carried THREE highlighters so I would always be prepared – and ready to assist others!
I confidently put aside the dead highlighter and went for my easy-to-reach highlighter that lived in the outside pocket of the briefcase. It was located there so that I could reach it without opening the main compartment which would make undue noise during a lecture. Hah! I was so prepared.
I reached for a highlighter. Dead.
Well, I could fix that. I was soooooo prepared. It was impossible to catch me off-guard. I put aside the dead, easy-to-reach highlighter and went for my second “brand new” highlighter in the inner zipper compartment.
Are you sensing a trend?
Dead.
It occurred to me that I hadn’t really had a working highlighter in some time, I’d just been ignoring this fact.
When I got home, I looked in my supplies drawer. When I started library school, I bought a case of highlighters. Twelve of them. So I would always be prepared (we’ve covered this ground).
Would you like to guess how many of the untouched highlighters in my school supplies drawer had any juice left at all?
Zero. I had seven remaining highlighters and they were all dead.
What is this world coming to when you have to read the expiration dates on writing utensils?
Plum Librarian LLC 
I’ve revived many a “dead” highlighter or marker with a brief dip in water, or better if available, alcohol. It doesn’t last long but it is repeatable for another time or two until new ones can be purchased. If you’re ever in this position again — which seems highly doubtful after this experience — you may want to give it a try.
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