Old and retro things have fascinated me since I was a little girl. When I was nine years old my dad decided to clean out his office and sell or give away a lot of his books. I don’t remember most of them (there were quite a lot) but I do remember one, mostly because it is now mine.

My copy of Great Inventors and their Inventions by Bachman was an old school book from the Wilkes Barre District. It was published in 1918– keep in mind that’s the year that World War One ended– and it now resides, instead of on the desk of an eighth grader, on the bookshelf in my room.

Since my dad gave that book to me I have grown quite the appreciation for old books, so when I discovered the one-dollar-book-tables and free books carts in the library I was naturally drawn to them. Since I found out about them I have searched through the carts for old books and, to my great delight, found several of interest. Since last fall, I have acquired a copy of Whittier’s poems (from the 1830s!) and an old German reader (from the early 1900s). More recently, and to my great surprise, I stumbled upon a copy of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation album!

Quite honestly, there a lot of strange and fantastic things to be found in on the free carts in the library, so don’t forget to look through them when you stop by.

~Hannah Stange