NPR: A Librarian Collects All the Things Left in Books — From Love Letters to Old Photos

From National Public Radio:

An ornate pencil drawing of a dragon; a floral postcard congratulating a 40th birthday, never mailed; a silver crochet hook.

All of these items share a connection: They were left behind in books returned to the Oakland Public Library.

Librarian Sharon McKellar collects the found artifacts and posts them on the library’s website in a collection titled “Found in a Library Book.”

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To McKellar, the project’s fun lies in imagining an item’s possible history and the person it belonged to.

“It lets us be a little bit nosy. In a very anonymous way, it’s like reading people’s secret diaries a little bit but without knowing who they are,” or breaching anyone’s trust, she said.

She said the library may someday hold a writing contest and ask people to submit short stories to go along with the found items.

Read/Listen to the Complete NPR Report, View Images (About 680 words)

Direct to “Found in a Library Book” Collection

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