Every library has its mysteries. Some are tucked away on forgotten shelves, hidden behind long titles and dust jackets. But in our library, one of the strangest mysteries doesn’t live in a book – it lives in a plastic wallet.

Since 2011, we’ve been collecting the things people have left behind in books. Not post-its or proper bookmarks, but oddities: strange, misplaced and sometimes outright bizarre. The sort of thing that makes you raise an eyebrow and ask, “Why was this in a copy of Dune?”

We call it the Weird Wallet. It lives in a quiet drawer behind the Information Desk on the first floor. But after the last light flickers off and the library doors close, something peculiar happens…

After Hours: The Wallet Stirs

When the clock strikes midnight, the wallet begins to rustle. Slowly, quietly, the items inside begin to wriggle free. Each object stretching, yawning, shaking off the silence.

First comes the Polaroid featuring a Pokémon balloon – a shiny, Pikachu with rosy cheeks. It zaps the air with invisible lightning, rallying the others into action.

“Let’s explore the non-fiction shelves tonight!” it squeaks. No one listens.

Next, the Little Miss CD lifts into the air. Even though there’s no CD player in the building, the disc starts to spin. Out come the voices – gentle, British, faintly smug – retelling the tales of Little Miss Chatterbox and Ms. Greedybvdse3, echoing through the aisles like bedtime ghosts.

A Popopfancy fridge magnet hops along behind, longing for a fridge door to cling to. It spends hours each night testing every metal surface in the library, refusing to accept that none of them are quite right.

The Seventeen flyer (from their 4th album, Sector 17) shimmers in the moonlight, striking dramatic poses in the biography section. It’s convinced it’s the star of its own musical and occasionally bursts into silent song, mouthing lyrics that only hardcore K-pop fans would understand.

And then, timidly, comes the antibiotic pill packet. Still containing a single tablet – it insists it’s no ordinary medication.

“I’m the Elixir of Unstoppable Focus,” it declares. “Swallow me, and you’ll finish your TOK essay in ten minutes.”

The others nod politely, making sure to keep their distance.

The Bookmarks’ Mission

Together, they form a secret society: The Nighttime League of Curious Stuff. Their mission? To help books find readers.

The Pokémon card slips itself into mystery novels to draw curious Year 9s toward something new. The CD whispers story ideas to tired Sixth Formers. The magnet nudges cookbooks off their shelves. The flyer charms students into checking out Korean fiction. The pill packet… mostly just worries about being expired.

They are forgotten things with a purpose. Not trash, not litter – but relics of real readers. Left behind accidentally, perhaps, but forever part of the Library’s story.

Come See for Yourself

Want to see the Weird Wallet? Come ask us at the desk. We’ll show you the collection – or what’s left of it before it comes alive again tonight. Maybe you’ll recognise something. Maybe you’ll be inspired to write your own story. Or maybe you’ll just make sure you never use a pill packet as a bookmark again.

And if you feel brave, leave something curious behind in a book. Just make sure it’s small… and weird.

Because here in the Library, even the bookmarks have stories to tell.