I am an avid reader, always have been. And I’ve never liked “cluttered” books - not even on books that aren’t mine. I particularly dislike it when I find a dog-eared page in a library book. Imagine what goes through my mind when I see highlights or writing in a library book! :mad: And although I’ve made notes and highlighted important passages in my personal books, I’d rather not.
That’s why I was SO excited to find out about Book Darts! With these little metal “points”(I couldn’t find out if they’re copper or bronze), I can mark the exact spot I’m to start reading when I return to a book.
While many people call the Darts “bookmarks”, the company that produces them prefers to call them “line markers”. For me they would be both. Since most of the books I read are borrowed from our public library system, my bookmarks tend to be the slips of paper that tell me when my books are due. However, these pieces of paper are large enough to attract the attention of my 22 month old son, who immediately removes said papers. 
I think that the Book Darts are most likely hopefully small enough to go unnoticed by my toddler.
I bet by now you’re probably wanting to rush down to the comment and suggest I use those little colorful (read attractive) sticky tabs to mark my page; they could even mark my line, you say. But here’s where the Book Darts have the upper hand.
You see, those little sticky tabs of paper (that would be gone in a minute from my books, if they even made it to the page 
), are not acid-free and will eventually harm the book. David McMahon, a librarian at Yale University, posted this comment at Lifehack.org in response to a suggestion to use sticky notes as bookmarks:
As an employee of Yale University’s library system, I implore you not to use sticky notes on library books. The acids in the adhesives will eventually discolor the paper and turn it brittle. Even if you don’t leave the notes in the book, they can leave residue. Also, removing them can damage the paper if it is already brittle or weak.
However, according to the Book Dart’s site, these little tabs do no damage at all. Here’s what the darts are about, rolled up into one quick description:
We are a book tool which meets a need (the need to recall reading discoveries quickly and surely, in cook books, spiritual reading, poetry, manuals and handbooks, etc.), and we do this in a unique way (without hurting the page).
So you can use these tabs in your library’s books and your friends’ books and remain guilt free. But best of all you can use them to mark your page, or your line, and keep your books looking great while also extending their life.
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7 responses so far ↓
1 Fun Playdates // Jan 27, 2007 at 6:08 pm
Sounds pretty nifty, but how do they adhere to the page? If they puncture it, won’t that be harming the pages as well?
My family and I are huge readers too, and I ALWAYS rely on my trusty bookmark. My husband uses any ol’ scrap he can find, but my girls MEMORIZE the pages that they are on! I couldn’t do that in a million years if I tried :-)
2 anon // Jan 31, 2007 at 8:06 am
I fly into a furious rage each time I see writing in a library book i’m reading. Seriously, it totally interrupts my concentration and flow, and it makes me so angry i almost dont’ want to finish the book. See, evidently someone with the same reading taste as me at my library is a grammar stickler…so the notations are usually “correcting” typos. However, more than once, they’ve been wrong. IN PEN!
3 Barb // Jan 31, 2007 at 9:50 am
Fun Playdates,
They don’t adhere, they are more like clips. Better than a paperclip, though.
Anon,
I wonder what makes people think it’s okay to write in a book that doesn’t belong to them! :mad:
I’ve wanted to correct books, too - I get annoyed by bad editing as well.
4 Jim // Feb 1, 2007 at 1:49 pm
I love these. We picked some up a few years ago and they helped out a bunch while I was in grad school. I like that they are re-usable.
I have to admit that I used the post-it flags as well, but only for my own books.
5 Barb // Feb 1, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Jim,
Did you find that they EVER punctured the pages? Since I haven’t gotten any yet (I’d prefer to find them locally if I can, and still have a few bookstores to hunt down), it’d be nice to get a user’s review of them for Fun Playdates.
6 Adrienne // Feb 1, 2007 at 8:56 pm
Ha, Jim- I was wondering what happened to those Book Darts when I first read this post. I was going to say that they are so small I lost them- a whole package, but now I have a suspicion where they might be.
I’m a prolific post-it flag user, and I feel remorse for the library books I must have injured over the years. I thought I was doing the right thing….
These are lovely and they don’t puncture anything. If you’re absolutely bonkers and compress them very tightly you might slightly crimp the page. I can’t image they would do a book much harm (but you’ve now heard about my track record with Post-Its).
7 Barb // Feb 2, 2007 at 11:01 am
Adrienne,
Thanks for letting us know! Hope you find those little darts now that you know where they might be.
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