I generally mark my page in books by folding down the top half-inch or so of the corner of the page. This doesn’t interfere with the reading of the book (the crease never enters into the text block), and I never really thought that much about it. Today I was reading a library book (and older paperback) and did this, and got chided for it. How much does it bother you if you get a book from the library and a few of the pages have corners that have been folded down at one point? Does it matter if the book is crisp and new vs. old and mangled? 'Cause I’ll stop doing it if it really pisses people off.
(I hate, hate, hate it when people write or highlight in library books. It takes me out of what I’m reading and makes me focus on why the hell they chose that one sentence or word to highlight, and what that stupid note means.)
It should be a capital crime. (Marking library books should be a capital crime with execution by torture.)
That book may be the only copy in the library for the next hundred years. Anything that damages the book or opens it to premature deterioration is a BAD THING.
I dog ear/add margin notes/highlight the living hell out of my own books, but I don’t think I’d do any of those things to a library book or a book I’d borrowed from a friend.
The way you describe dog earing the book wouldn’t bother me in the least, but I’m well aware that not everyone is as rough with books as I am. I would err on the side of caution and pick up a cute bookmark.
I’m with Tom on this one. My mother was a librarian and taught me well. Damage a library book in any way and either replace it or pay with your life. Plus fines.
I have to agree with everyone…the book doesn’t belong to you, and you have the obligation to treat it as you would anything that belongs to someone else…with the utmost care and respect! Think about it as if you borrowed it from a friend (with the expectation that it was indeed a loan, and the friend wanted it back)…would you do anything to damage it?
Most library paperbacks I have borrowed are in such bad shape that you’d hardly notice a bent page corner. But if I saw you bend one I would be irritated also. I can hardly bring myself to bend the corner of a magazine or newspaper page.
At home we have a box of my old business cards that my family use as bookmarks. The kids used them in their picture books before they could read. As a result I find these cards scattered all over my house; I can open any drawer or walk up to any bookshelf and find a bookmark when I need one.
Gah, I’m a horrible person, I do this occaisonally without thinking. I do it to all my own books, and sometimes forget what I’m doing. I know I shouldn’t and I feel bad about it, but I’m sure I’ll probably do it again in this lifetime.
I agree with the others. Dog-earring a book damages it. If it’s your own book, do what you like. If it isn’t your own book, treat it with respect. You don’t damage things that aren’t yours.
How hard is it to find a scrap of paper to stick in as a book mark? A receipt, bit of string, or one of those millions of cards stuck into magazines, it’s not difficult to find something to mark your place.
I’m a librarian and I beg you to leave the library books alone. Just read them and bring them back in the same condition that you got them.
Even at my small special health library we give away FREE bookmarks for our patrons. In library school we all heard the legendary tale of a librarian discovering… a piece of bacon (!!!) used as a bookmark. Bet that left a smelly mess, to say the least.
Folding corners is annoying for us because the page may rip or tear and need to be repaired, and that costs time and money. And I hate doing it!
Also, please keep a watch if your kids (or you!) are using library materials while/after eating. I had to scrape pizza grime off of a $200 video kit. Nasty. But you wouldn’t do that, right??? Please give me some hope!
(No cheese on the books, no sauce on my videos, and no porn spam on my computers!)
It might not be so bad just to have that little diagonal crease, but the crease becomes weaker and weaker and the little dog-ear part falls off. Then the usability of the book is compromised. Maybe not fatally, but it is an annoyance. Then, since you can’t turn the page at the corner, you tend to reach closer to the spine, which puts stress on the entire page. With older or more fragile materials, that is a genuine problem.