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Discarded delights: The joy of ex-library books (2021)

Let's start with the definition. An ex-library book is a book that once belonged to a public library or institution and has been 'discarded' after being deemed no longer useful. These books often gravitate into the hands of used booksellers and end up for sale on online marketplaces such as…

The dust jacket is long gone to the great library in the sky but the book was only checked out 16 times since 1997 - again, many thanks to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Dan Browns, Stephen Kings and Lee Childs are constantly out on loan from public libraries and those books take a real beating. Since condition is vital for collectors, you are going to come across books with torn or lost dust jackets, cloudy and smeared protective sleeves (mylar covers are easy to replace though), and general shelf wear.

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