Glimpses of life left behind in library books

“Things that seem the most mundane can be the most interesting,” she said. “I love the little peek into somebody’s life in that moment.”

Mckellar has been doing this for many years, but in 2013 she decided to make her pastime public. She began uploading each scanned item to the library’s website on a page she created called Found in a Library Book.

The impromptu project took off, with other staff contributing.

Mckellar, 46, said she always tried to return important items to their owner, and removes any private information such as names and addresses rom her digital posts.

She divides the items into various categories: notes, art, photos, cards and letters, artefacts, facts, bookmarks, creative

writing, lists, written in a book, and items by kids.

For Mckellar, the treasures that tickle her most are drawings by children especially those that paint a clear picture of what might be going on in their lives, despite the simplicity of the artwork.

She also loves looking at people’s lists: to-do lists, grocery lists, brainstorming lists, bucket lists. All the lists.

“I make lists for everything and then tend to leave them behind,” Mckellar said.

“Learning to cook” is the title of one list that randomly turned up, and is written in distinctly curly cursive. Several dishes are listed: almond butter cake, banana muffins, devilled eggs and baking powder biscuits.

Another list, scribbled messily on a yellow Post-it Note, is mostly crossed out. Some tasks are still pending, though, including: “buy hay” and “vit AE moisturiser”.

To anyone other than the scribe,

these notes might seem meaningless.

“You can look at an object, whether it’s a photo or a scrap of paper, and you can think of all the possible people who might have brought that into our space, and why and how it got here, and what their stories are.”

People on the internet are also fans of the forgotten vestiges. The website page has been popular for years, Mckellar said, but the initiative recently spread wider on social media. One shows a book review of sorts, written on lined paper in penmanship that appears to be a child’s.

“I love this book,” reads the review. “It stole my heart and made me cry. Enjoy!”

They have also found wistful and insightful love letters and revel in the mystery.

“I think it’s compelling to see these little glimpses into other people’s lives,” Mckellar said. “They feel very human.” |