Loading…
8
The librarian in Boise told me she judges donations by one thing and it changed how I pick swaps
I was dropping off a box of paperbacks at the library on Cole Road and the woman at the desk said she can tell in 5 seconds if a book will ever get borrowed again by checking the first page for coffee rings and bent corners. She said a book with wear marks means somebody actually read it and loved it, while a perfect spine usually means it sat on a shelf for a decade. Now when I look at the swap pile here I skip the ones that look brand new and grab the beat up copies instead. Does anyone else pick books that way or am I reading too much into it?
1 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In1 Comment
emery_park9326d ago
The part about a perfect spine meaning it sat on a shelf for a decade really hits home. I started doing this with kids books after my sister gave me a box from her attic, and every single one that looked untouched was boring, while the ones with crayon marks and torn pages were the ones my kids begged for at bedtime. Same thing at yard sales, the worn copies usually come from a house where somebody actually read the thing out loud. A book that got loved hard is a pretty good sign it has something worth loving in it. The only catch is you can't tell wear from damage, so I still flip through and check for water stains or mold before I take one home.
1