Finding treasures in donated books

As a library, we are the drop-off place for donated books. Now, don't get me wrong. We LOVE donated books, especially those that are ready to be coded into the system and ready to shelve. But before that can happen, someone has to look them over and make sure they are in the proper condition for library circulation.
Today I saw Eloise going through a big box of books that had been donated. She was patiently looking through each one, checking the pages and covers to make sure they were clean and neat, no torn-out pages, no scribbling, that kind of
thing.
Then suddenly she said, "Well, look what I found." It was a slender, gold metal bookmark. I guess that's what started the conversation between the four of us there in the processing room.
I found out that donated books come to the library with secret treasures. Often they are bookmarks, ribbons, family photos, cards of various kinds (all the way from note cards and prayer cards to gift cards, but no playing cards I know of), personal notes people have written to themselves as reminders on all kinds of paper, and money. However, I was informed that finding money is VERY rare!
These treasures prompted several memories from my coworkers. One person said she remembered a book about carpentry for children that was returned with sawdust in it. And, she said, she also remembered the book about beef stew that had a toothbrush in it.
One person said books often come in with coffee or soda pop stains, even food spills. I imagined that spaghetti would make the biggest mess, but I also remembered the times I've dumped cookie or cracker crumbs into the center of my book and thought I'd gotten all of it out. Those are my books in my personal library; I don't eat around my library books. Especially since I know how hard it is for the librarians to keep a messy book.
Anyhow, another coworker told about the time a child brought a library book in to return and it smelled like maple syrup. She said she asked the little boy if he'd had pancakes for breakfast and he said, "How'd you know?" Just goes to show how much knowledge a librarian really has. Lots of it doesn't even come with a degree.
Then someone said, "Oh, tell about the toilet training book that had to be discarded!" And everyone laughed. I had a feeling I knew what was coming, so I thanked everyone for their wondeful insight to donated books and left.
But I knew I just had to tell you about the treasures we find in our donated books. And to say...be sure you look through your books before you return or donate them to the library. There may be a treasure or two in them that you'll really want to keep.