I have had this bookmark for at least ten years. It was a free one from a Border’s books in Uptown Minneapolis. It has gotten much use over the years but I took it out of rotation a few years back so it wouldn’t deteriorate any more than it already has. The worst part is that there is no photo credit or description of any kind so I have no way of tracking down the image.
I love it because:
- I wish this grand and fabulous yet cozy library belonged to me.
- It would be so much fun to dig around in those piles and on the shelves and see what everything is.
- I would love to bring some order to that chaos. Tidying that library would be my idea of a great vacation.
Do you have a favorite bookmark? Why is it your favorite? Do you fantasize about tidying other people’s libraries? Do you ever tidy the shelves while you browse at a bookstore or library? (I do.)
UPDATE: Thanks to Lethe, I now know where this image came from: André Kertész. It can be found on p. 56 of his book On Reading (reissued 2008) and is titled “André Jammes, Paris. November 4, 1963”.
I LOVE the Internet!
hogglestock 
I don't think I could live like that! It's great to see this though. Here is a post I wrote some time ago about my bookmarks:
http://paperbackreader2.blogspot.com/2009/04/bookmarks.html
I regularly use the rainbow fish one and my oldest one that is difficult to make out; I seem to prefer that style of bookmark.
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Tidying that library *would* be a good time! I've definitely straightened shelves while browsing the bookstore. I used to work at one, and putting things back where the belonged and getting things in order so people could find what they were looking for was one of my favorite tasks. Even though those days are well in the past, those habits die hard and if I see a book out of place at the store even now, I gotta put it back! =)
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Oh, I love this bookmark.
I would never tidy this library, because it's a home library, and I think they're meant to be untidy (and somehow, I've noticed, people with untidy home libraries still seem to know where everything is, so there must be some kind of system…)
But I totally tidy shelves at the library and the bookstore. It makes me nuts when I see other library patrons just dragging books out and dumping them around on the floor and shelves.
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That's a gorgeous bookmark! I don't have a favourite, as I seem to lose mine all the time! Right now I'm using one of the Persephone ones.
I'd love to tidy someone's bookshelf but I have to tidy mine first!
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Paperback: Love your post on bookmarks.
Megan: Maybe I could start a business running a fantasy camp for people like us who would enjoy organizing libraries.
CR: I kind of agree, I would still allow chaos, but I still think I would want to organize it a bit…
Mrs. B: My shelves are as tidy as I can make them given current space issues. I have my fiction in alpha order and other things grouped by suject and/or size.
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My new favorite bookmarks are the ones I won from Jeane at Dog Ear Diary. Her original artwork is lovely! And I do tidy the shelves at books stores, putting things back in alphabetical order. Weird, considering I don't keep my own shelves in any kind of order. But then again, I know where everything is at home. :-)
Lezlie
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I like to use random pieces of paper that are relevant to what is going on with me currently – and leave them in the book. For example, I leave boarding passes in the books I buy/read while traveling.
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Lezlie: It is more fun tidying someone else's shelves.
Julie: I love finding bits of paper in books.
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I do find myself tidying things up when visiting other people's bookshelves or even the bookstore. It's rather soothing to me.
I have a handful of fave bookmarks. They all have special meaning to me even though some work better than others. For example, I have one that was given to me as a gift. It's silver and has a jeweled charm attached to it. It's lovely but it's top heavy so it often falls out of the book which of course defeats its entire purpose.
I'm enjoying the one I won from you though!
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90% of the time, I use the receipt for buying/checking out of the library the book I'm reading. I leave them in there, too, which is fun to find if I go back to read the book again. I get a nice memory of where I got the book.
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Hi, first-time commenter here.
I thought you might like to know that the photo in your bookmark is by André Kertész. It can be found on p. 56 of his book On Reading (reissued 2008) and is titled “André Jammes, Paris. November 4, 1963”.
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Lethe: Thank you! I don't know how I missed this comment until today. How exciting that you solved this mystery for me.
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