Washington Post – The public library in Oakland, Calif., has an online fan following – “If you’ve ever mistakenly left a note or a to-do list — or worse, a love letter — behind in a library book, and figured your personal item was tossed by the librarian, you might be wrong.
Especially if you live in Oakland, Calif. In her 20 years as a librarian, Sharon McKellar has unearthed all kinds of left-behind personal items — from doodles to recipes to old photographs — nestled between the pages of returned library books. She carefully removes them and reads them, then she scans and uploads them to the library’s website after scrubbing any personal identifying information. It has become a hobby, and she has got quite a following of people who are equally charmed by the forgotten finds. “Part of the magic is that they sort of just appear,” McKellar said. “Sometimes, they may have been in a book for a really long time before we notice them there.” McKellar — a librarian at the Oakland Public Library — marvels at each memento, no matter how mundane. She chronicles them all…”