From the Library of...

I was recently pondering loaning out some books to a wider group of people, ones who I may not personally know. While doing so, I ended up writing down a lot of my thoughts about books and specifically about loaning them, as I was trying to work out what I would say to someone reading a loaned book.

So here you have my thoughts, in the form which I [if space permits] would likely put them in a "From the Library of..." at the beginning of a book I would loan out. Comments, thoughts and stories are all welcomed; criticism aimed at anything other than making this written form of my thoughts more clear [clearer?] should be avoided. :)

Thoughts About Books

1. Please treat any book like it was a treasured member of your family.
   If none exist, please give this book a hug and take care of it like
   you would want to be taken care of.
2. Much like a younger sibling, this book will probably get stains and
   creases as it ages. Trying to prevent that completely is a lost cause,
   but you may want to at least brush any dirt off so the next person can
   still read it.
3. Loaning a book is a lot like having children [or at least, I think so,
   not having any children]; At some point you have to let them go into
   the world and experience it on their own. They may find their own way,
   and they may return to you again and again. In either case your only
   hope is to cherish the experience of having known them, and welcome
   their return with open arms.
   • If you fall in love with this book and want to provide it a home,
     by all means do; I ask only that you treat it kindly, and share with
     me a story of how it came to your home. I worry over my lost children,
     and rejoice when one makes their own way in the world.
   • If you lose this book and find it again, share it with others. Unlike
     children, I can always buy another book; books that have been found
     have many stories about them, not just within the covers, and stories
     should be shared.
4. While writing is a thing to be treasured, when someone reads a book they
   are probably not interested in what you’ve written on the pages [unless
   you perhaps wrote the book!]. If you feel the need to write in this book,
   please do so here, in between the covers and before the story starts; poems,
   thoughts and dreams add a story to the book, rather than hide the one
   already written.
5. Reading a book should be enjoyable. While I only loan out books that I have
   enjoyed, that doesn’t mean you always will like them, or even that I enjoyed
   every single word or page. Take what enjoyment you can from each book, even
   if it’s as simple as reading a paragraph and deciding that you have no
   obligation to read the whole thing. Return it and someone else may find it.
   Similarly, I rarely agree with everything in a book; the only thing contained
   here that I agree with is what I have written here. And even that is
   uncertain: just because Present me wrote it doesn’t mean that Future me
   will agree.
6. I believe books should be shared; the stories you gain from the sharing may
   come to be even more important than the story you read in the pages. I love
   to hear how people experienced a book and what pieces they found interesting.
   If you want to share a story about a book, please do! If there’s no-one
   around to tell, please write it down and share it with me.