Librarians find the weirdest things in returned books

Chandler librarians say they routinely find oddities between the pages of returned books: from cash and lottery tickets to love letters. And patrons rarely come back to claim the stuff.

One of the most common - and unpleasant - discoveries is toilet paper, said Marj Pals, a library aide at the Sunset Branch Library.

Pals keeps a collection of creative and unusual "bookmarks" on display behind her desk in case people want them back. Her wall is covered with greeting cards, personal letters, travel mementos, board game pieces, doilies, playing cards and one recent addition: a list of "karma violations." She also has found combs, deflated balloons and origami creations.

Most of the cash discoveries are just a dollar or two, but several years ago Pals found an envelope containing a $10,000 check. When she couldn't trace the name of the recipient in library records, she returned it to the check writer. That person, whom Pals would not identify, sent a thank-you card in which he explained the money was sent to his son for a down payment on a house.

Another odd one was the envelope marked "happy happy" stuffed in a book's spine; it contained muscle relaxant pills, she said.

Chandler Librarian Sue Hoffman is surprised so few people come back to claim personal mementos found in the books. Photographs, letters, elaborate bookmarks and unpaid utility bills are retained for a while but rarely claimed, she said.

With more than 2.3 million items checked out of the city's libraries every year, rarely a day goes by that an extra item isn't found in a library book, Hoffman said. And it's likely many more of them aren't discovered by the staff before books are returned to the shelves, she said.

"We see all kinds of things in the book drop boxes, too," Hoffman said. "Sometimes people tape money for fines on the books. We find cellphones and utility bill payments. If they have stamps on them, we drop them in the mail, and sometimes we have even put stamps on them."

Library collections aren't the only books that come in with extras. Suzanne Kinsinger, operations manager for Friends of the Library, said some donated books for public sales have been stuffed with personal letters and even spoiled food.

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