Whenever books are returned to our library, we flip through the pages and quickly scan them visually for torn or missing pages, dog-eared corners, scribbling, hi-lighting, and other damage. Sometimes this is due to normal wear and tear, sometimes carelessness, and sometimes deliberate vandalism. We also find odds and ends tucked between the pages, though, and I thought I would share a few especially odd special oddities.
I can't really share pictures of most such items due to privacy concerns, but this butterfly bookmark seems safe enough to show off. We find lots of bookmarks, in fact. Most get tossed in a bin, but if they look like something personal, I try to contact the borrower and let them know. One was a memorial bookmark for an infant that had died. I knew the family, but not that bit of their history before finding that paper with its tiny photo and sad inscription.
Sometimes strange items get used as bookmarks. I once found a detention letter for a student who had been caught vaping. Another time it was a prescription drug info sheet. We're used to focusing on patron privacy at the library, so such items don't become local gossip, but remember, librarians know all.
On another occasion, I found a stamped and addressed envelope tucked in a book that had been deposited in our book drop bin after hours. I looked up the name on the return address in our system, and it was a patron from another library outside our central district. I tried to call to see whether I should just drop it in the mail for them, but got no answer and no call back from my message. I sent it anyway. They found the message a week later, and everyone else in the office was perplexed by the matter since they had no idea what was going on.
Lastly, I recently found an odd black blob squished inside the back cover of a book. After some effort at trying to clean it out, a few bits peeled away, and I realized it was the mortal remains of a spider. A note to my arachnid readers (this is the web, after all): don't startle people with books. It will end badly!
