Here's a fun story for any book enthusiast. The book, Facts I Ought to Know About the Government of My Country, can be found for $10 to $15, so by itself it's not a rare treasure. But in my mind the story behind this particular volume definitely warrants it being put in the library's special collection --- or even displayed, as a draw to attract people to visit.

I have plenty of old books in my collection that I bought for a few dollars on eBay or from bookshops. I read them for enjoyment and use them in my research. It's also nice to stop and think: At one point, this was a brand-new book, opened for the first time by someone in a "distant country" (as Dick Doty calls the America of yesteryear), possibly given as a gift on some special occasion, and consumed with relish in an era before radio shows, television, and the ever-present Internet.