The pandemic has brought a change in the used book business: less income from the sale of books but an avalanche of book donations. We never had book donations in 1983. A recent donation of remarkable (eclectic) diversity brought me face to face with a philosophical question. Which is better? To receive books that are so loved and used (they may be soiled, dog-eared, underlined, and full of marginalia), that you breathe a sigh of admiration. (“Wow, people really do still love their books!”) Or does it make you happier to take in books that are pristine, probably never opened. (“What a great book this is…why did they never read it?”) Obviously, from a purely mercenary point of view, the second example will support your business while the first example will be a book for the “free” box.
Examples: three pristine, three blemished or tattered (but loved to death)
Here’s how to preserve a book with no marginalia for the next person:
- Take a junk mail envelope
- Make notes on the envelope
- Write the page numbers of the salient quotes you want to remember along with top, middle, bottom (T, M, B)
- Forget to write the title of the book
- Lose the envelope
- See? No messed up book
The Eclectic Reader 