When I return library books, I do not like to drop them in the collection box. First, that just seems disrespectful to me. Pages could get bent, covers ripped, maybe even old spines broken.

But there’s another reason. When I hand it to whoever is working that day, I’ll tell them if I really liked it. Does that mean anything? Maybe so, maybe not. Most times, the staff doesn’t even look up, but now and then we have a brief conversation, which I hope gives them something to say to the next potential borrower, even if “Well, there’s this weird guy who won’t put the books in the collection box and only usually takes science and history who liked it a lot.”