The Pleasures and Perils of Library Books

I love our local public library. Who could pass up free books and all their pleasures? Sure, you don’t often get to experience that “new book” smell from a library book, but I think there is something appealing about reading a book with a past. Sometimes I sit and wonder how many people have read this book before me. Did they enjoy it? Did they have the flu while they were reading it? Did they wash their hands before they touched it? (Yes, I really do think about such things.)

Most previously read books will bear some signs of their readers. The corner of a page might be turned down, either to mark an important passage or to serve in place of a bookmark (lots of people don’t have bookmarks, apparently). Occasionally, I will find a library book that has been written in. I find this annoying, but I do sometimes enjoy reading the notes or wondering why anyone would underline that particularly uninteresting bit of information. I have also found business cards, shopping lists, random bits of paper.

There are other mysteries to solve. Our library has a self-service checkout station that gives you a receipt listing all the books you checked out in that session. I have found quite a few of these little slips tucked into the pages of books. I like to read them and attempt to discover any relationship between the books on the list: Indian Cooking, Birds of North America, Marketing for Dummies, and The Essential Haiku. Okay, I just made that list up, but you get the idea. Come to think of it, this is pretty close to a list of books I checked out one day about a year ago. I should have left the receipt for someone to find.

Less pleasant things get left in library books too. Just ten minutes ago I finished reading a book that unfortunately had some bits of dried food stuck between several pages. At least I hope it was food. (Why did the reader not make some attempt to clean this up? My mother certainly taught me to clean up after myself.) I have also found books with pages smeared with what I sincerely hope was either mud or chocolate. This brings to mind the Seinfeld episode in which George tries to return a new book after he read said book in the bathroom—but let’s not think about that too much.

I have to go return a library book now—and check out another one!