Library book

[Ineffable]

http://theboard.byu.edu/questions/62410/

I really want to buy a book, sign my name in it, and hide it in the library to make this legend a reality. I've also already picked the perfect hiding place.

Anyone have any suggestions for an especially fitting book? Preferably something old enough to have a 1950-ish edition, and awesome.

[Dead Cat]

I vote The Great Gatsby or The Count of Monte Cristo. Or some other book where the main character is pretending to be something they're not.

[Katya]

You could always use the book that inspired your avatar.

Hit me up if you need a call number, whatever you end up choosing.

[bobtheenchantedone]

I second The Scarlet Pimpernel!

[Craig Jessop]

Um, I definitely want in on this.

[Whistler]

Hmm.... I suspect a non-fiction book would be better hid. But maybe the desire is for it to be found?

You'll want to tape on a call number somehow...

[Ineffable]

So librarians, you'll have to help me. So I was going to make a set of new, blank signatures to put inside the cover of The Scarlet Pimpernel. Then I was just going to leave it wedged in between some books somewhere with the instructions that after signing the book, place it somewhere else on the library shelves. Are the shelves patrolled often enough to spot a random book? If I need to put a call number on it, do I use the same one for the real Scarlet Pimpernel and just put the blank book next to it?

Also, in your opinion is it cool just to have a book filled with signatures, or should we prompt them to do something else? I was thinking perhaps a la Sir Percy Blakney we ask them to sign their name as a commitment to help someone in need that week... I dunno, maybe that's lame.

[C is for]

Oh, I've an idea.

How about you do The Elusive Pimpernel instead? A less popular book (okay, I don't know how popular The Scarlet Pimpernel is but I imagine it's got a small following...) might attract less attention.

I'm not a librarian, and I'm not helping, but ... that is my idea.

I like the idea of a commitment to help someone that week.

[Katya]

If I need to put a call number on it, do I use the same one for the real Scarlet Pimpernel and just put the blank book next to it?

Assuming you're putting in on the 5th floor (and not in the sampler collection on the 3rd floor), the call number for The Scarlet Pimpernel would be:

PR6029
.R25
S33
[year]

Where [year] is the publication date of the specific edition.

Here's the thing, though:

Are the shelves patrolled often enough to spot a random book?

Most academic libraries don't have nearly enough staff and time to do complete shelf reads on a regular basis. So, no, it probably wouldn't be noticed by any of the staff. Of course, that also means it might not be noticed by any of the patrons.

If it were me, I'd make the book deliberately eye-catching in some way, probably by finding (or making) a book with a really bright spine color that would be intriguing enough for people to pull it off the shelf. Inside the book would be a message congratulating the reader for finding the mysterious traveling library book and asking them to sign their name and then put it in a different location.

Shoot, you could just buy a blank book with a shiny cover and accomplish the same thing.

[Whistler]

or make one!

[Rifka]

I vote you use a Sherlock Holmes book. Or The Book Thief.