# Van Reader Record **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 21, 2016, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-reader-record/749811 "2016-03-21T23:51:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![yearofglad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b782af/32.png) [@yearofglad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yearofglad)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2016, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-reader-record/749811/1 "2016-03-21T23:51:13Z")
Pasted into the back of a library book (Larry McMurtry’s “All My Friends Are Going to Be Strangers”, if that’s somehow relevant), I found a sticker that says “Van Reader Record-A” and “Van Reader Record-B”; under each heading, it has numbers that go from 1 to 200 and a red marker has marked “81” under “Van Reader Record-A”. [Here’s a photo.](http://www.yearofglad.com/images/vanreader.jpg) A Google search as to what this means came up empty, and no other library book I’ve gotten from this library (Portland, OR) has had it in it. Any ideas on what it means? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-reader-record/749811/2 "2016-03-22T06:36:01Z")
Have you asked the librarian? ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-reader-record/749811/3 "2016-03-22T06:43:57Z")
I’ve never seen it either. The book was originally published in '72 so can’t be \*that \*old. ---
**Author:** ![yearofglad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b782af/32.png) [@yearofglad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yearofglad)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-reader-record/749811/4 "2016-03-22T15:15:33Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Have you asked the librarian? I have not - I meant to say that I would do that when I returned it, but since I haven’t seen this in any of countless other library books, I don’t have high hopes. But I will ask and report back if the librarian has an answer. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-reader-record/749811/5 "2016-03-24T12:12:21Z")
A for A level books, and B for B level books. Van… like a bus… converted for mobile library use… It seems to be a statement of how many books are in the Van , perhaps the books were numbers 1 to 200 , and its meant to mark out borrowings ? Or the sheet could be used by a student (and their parent or carer… ) to tally up how many books they read… Since the book is going to be “1” A or 1 “B”, there’s no reason for that to be pasted into the book ; its incorrectly glued into the book by some mistake or misunderstanding. ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-reader-record/749811/6 "2016-03-24T19:37:17Z")
Thanks for bumping. \*\*yearofglad \*\* any news? ---
**Author:** ![yearofglad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b782af/32.png) [@yearofglad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yearofglad)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-reader-record/749811/7 "2016-03-31T21:20:28Z")
For those wondering, I asked a librarian here in Portland. She said it was for a program where books were delivered to shut-ins, nursing homes, etc.; she didn’t know the specifics or why some numbers were marked in some books other than for some sort of record-keeping. So a somewhat satisfying answer, but less satisfying since it sounds like it’s strictly a Portland, OR thing. ---
**Author:** ![paperclypse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@paperclypse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperclypse)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-reader-record/749811/8 "2021-03-25T06:56:58Z")
What a funny thing. I found one of these Van Reader Record stickers in the back of a library book (The King Must Die by Mary Renault) here in Portland, OR. That led me here. 🙂