Public libraries are an amazing resource for any neighborhood. Not only do they offer books free of charge, but also often provide classes for local residents and programs to inspire youngsters to continue learning when school ends for the summer.
That said, those working on the staff also see their fair share of folks taking advantage of the open space by leaving all sorts of unusual objects behind among the stacks. I'm not sure what would inspire anyone to plop any of the items down in the return slot, shelves, or between the pages of books, but it definitely makes me feel a ton of sympathy for my librarian friends.
Some of these can probably be blamed on simple forgetfulness, but others are clearly malicious and downright unsettling.
Do you know anyone who works at a library and stumbled upon some strange items? Let us know in the comments and be sure to SHARE with your friends!
Thumbnail sources: Wikimedia Commons 1, 2
1. Bad Bookmark Choices
"You'd be surprised how many people use their credit cards as bookmarks. Also personal medical information… And notes and cards from their kids… It breaks my heart to shred an 'I love you daddy' card, but if we have no idea whose it is, we have to." — AlfishKK
2. Family Heirloom
“Found antique medical equipment. I managed to track the guy down and give it back to him. He had passed it onto his daughter who was also a doctor, and she accidentally donated it with a box full of books.” — cojafoji
3. Better Late Than Never
“A book that was 16 years overdue. Luckily, the max penalty our library charges is $5.” — chuck_not_norris
4. Creepy Crawlers
“Three live scorpions. Hurray for desert libraries.” — Reddit User
5. Kind Donation
“After some highly publicized budget cuts caused our local libraries to have to cut staff and hours, some anonymous benefactor dropped a manilla envelope with $5,000 in the book deposit of a small branch library.” — hagcel
6. Paying Fashion Forward
“Pink corduroy trousers stuffed into the return slot.” — momalloyd
7. Fishy Christmas Present
“Had someone put a whole salmon in the book drop one year when we were closed for Christmas. Thing festered and rotted for two days. It did not smell nice.” — musicman835
8. Making The Grade
“At my school, someone left half-finished coursework. Put it up on a board so it would be claimed but before it was, one of the teachers decided to grade it, quite cruelly. It wasn't collected.” — reubengor
9. Naughty Noses
“Boogers. So many boogers (K-8 library).” — HailtheMagpie
Have you or your librarian friends and family members ever found something that can top these? Let us know below and be sure to SHARE with your loved ones!
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.
