A librarian's throwaway comment about donated books stuck with me

I was at a library sale last Saturday in Portland and overheard a volunteer telling someone that most people donate their books because they feel guilty, not because they want someone else to enjoy them. That hit me weird because I do that too sometimes. I realized half my own donations were just me clearing shelf space, not really thinking about the next reader. But the folks who do think about it, they write little notes in the margins or leave the receipt from a favorite coffee shop as a bookmark. Those are the books I grab first now, the ones with a little bit of someone's life left in them. Made me wonder, do you guys look for those personal touches when you're digging through boxes, or is it all about the title and condition for you?

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skyler5161d ago

Found a 1977 copy of Dune last spring with a grocery list tucked inside. Someone had written "pickles, band-aids, cat food" in pencil, and I just sat there in the aisle thinking about that person's Tuesday. Kept it for a year before I donated it back, but not before adding my own note on the last page. Now I check every book with a spine crack for old receipts and margin scribbles, it's like finding little time capsules.