Legend tells of a heavenly chain of bookstores in the far off shores of Niantic where there are thousands of books available for a low fee. They have cats, they have playgrounds, they even offer snacks and coffee. It sounds too good to be true.

Seriously though, I knew the Book Barn in Niantic was not a legend; it exists. Part of self-control; however, is knowing that you shouldn’t go into these kinds of establishments, or you’ll walk out penniless. Staying away is a matter of fiscal responsibility.

On my birthday; however, the family and I decided to make an epic day of going to the Book Barn’s all four locations. FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER.

I’m pretty sure my family thinks it is hilarious when I drop my very rigid purchasing stamina and splurge. What’s one more dollar book, mom? Get all seventeen books in a science fiction series from the 1960’s!

All those books, and we barely broke over $100.

It’s been almost a year since the great book splurge of 2018, and I’m still working through my selection.

Up on the list right now is Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina.

I noticed that there was a little insert. Robin asked her dearest friends and family to take care of her book and to ensure it returned to library.

I found it in a used book store, guys. Either Robin no longer has a library (Dang, did she watch Marie Kondo too?), or a loved one violated her request to return it to her personal library.

I’m pretty conflicted about this. I’m sorry Robin. Not only do I have no ability to return it to you, but I wrote in it… a lot.

The note had me thinking:

I loan books out all the time. In fact, I’m a self-proclaimed book pusher. If there is a book that I think you’d like, I will hound you to read it, and if I have a copy of that book in my possession, it’s easier to push it onto you.

There have been a fair number of books that I have purchased, and I won’t ask for them back. I figure there’s gotta be a good reason that someone didn’t return it: the most likely being they never finished (or started?) reading it, but plan to.

I loved the idea of showing the connection that these books have to my own personal library. Even if they never return, they had a spot within my illustrious Scriptorium, if but only for a small moment in time.  

And maybe it’s the conditioning of my college days to keep a mental log of commentary while reading so I can write a fifteen page paper later on it, but even to this day I still love annotating the books that I read. Even if it’s, “OMG what are you doing?!”

So, I made my own little inserts for the Scriptorium books. I put my web address in case anyone comes upon the book, in say a used book store, and wants to reunite it with the Scriptorium. I’m one step ahead of Robin!

I also made a blank one, in case anyone else on the internet would like to bedazzle their own personal library books. If you’d like the PSD copy to alter it to put your own ideas, email me at Faith.Allaire@yahoo.com and I will gladly email it you.