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Librarian is sharing the treasure trove of items she's discovered in returned books

Who knew books could be filled with such sweet trinkets?

Photo by Rabie Madaci on Unsplash

Librarian finds lost treasures in library books.

Here at Upworthy, we try to find stories that will warm your heart so when NPR shared about a lucky librarian, we had to share. Sometimes, looking through forgotten things can be fun, especially when they give you a glimpse into someone else's life. Even the smallest things can feel like a treasure. In California, an Oakland Public Library librarian, Sharon McKellar, has been collecting things she has found left behind in books people return.

Who would've thought that there could be so many things left behind inside a library book? Sure, you can imagine the obvious like a bookmark or a Post-it note holding the reader's place, but this librarian has found some pretty cool things. Some things are unique, while others are things like tags or receipts—most likely things used to bookmark the page for later reading. But the collection is something that will give your heart a little smile and she has it all in one place for people to explore. Since McKellar's collection started to grow, she started a page on the library website just to display her treasures so their owners could claim them should they want them back.

Great Patient | Oakland Public Library.

oaklandlibrary.org

It's hard to imagine that people would want most of the things in the collection. Not sure what someone would do with a good dental report from a few years ago or an old Southwest luggage tag. But among the finds there are a few items that people would find priceless, like old family photos and little love notes.

McKellar told NPR that she had been collecting things from library books for a while, but about 10 years ago she figured other people may also find the items interesting. That's when she started adding images of the found items to the library's website. Other Oakland librarians send things they've found in books to McKellar, who then scans them and uploads them to the website. When speaking to NPR, she said, "I had always collected little things I'd found in library books and I knew other people did that too," McKellar said. "So that was how it started. It was pretty simple, I was inspired by a magazine called Found Magazine."

Couple at Drakes Brewing Co.

Couple at Drakes Brewing Company.

oaklandlibrary.org

There are now more than 350 items in the archive, according to NPR, and most remain unclaimed. There's no indication of what will become of the collection in the future or if McKellar will continue to collect until she needs to take out a storage unit. Either way, these little finds are a fun and wholesome glimpse into the lives of strangers.

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The coffee world is way too white. Keba Konte is revolutionizing the industry.

When two black men were arrested in a Philadelphia Starbucks in April 2018, Americans were rightfully outraged.

As the mega-corporation worked to find ways to address the incident — ultimately deciding to hold a national anti-bias training for employees — coffee lovers of color began sharing their go-to caffeine shops and roasters around the nation. One such company was Red Bay Coffee.

Established in 2014, Red Bay Coffee has quickly become one of the most well-known roasters in Oakland, California.

People from all over the country order its beans online, purchase its products at Whole Foods, and stop by the roastery, bar, and garden.

All photos via Red Bay Coffee, used with permission.

So how does a coffee roaster reach this level of adoration? Some pretty incredible leadership is making it happen.

Red Bay Coffee founder Keba Konte has spent years building a company that's as rewarding for its customers as it is for its employees.

A former photojournalist and artist, Konte has made a name for himself as a socially conscious business owner. With more than 10 years in the coffee industry, Konte's dedication to diversity has led him to work on bridging the gap between coffee culture and communities of color.

Konte has worked in the coffee industry for more than 10 years.

"I'm into equity and how we sort of share the wealth, we do profit sharing, and how we really help support other people's [of color] businesses," Konte says. "So there's the creative piece, there's the community piece, and the social justice piece that you need to make this all happen."

In addition to hiring women and people of color, Red Bay is known for hiring formerly incarcerated individuals and foster youth.

Red Bay is known for employing women, people of color, and formerly incarcerated individuals.

"We're a second chance employer," Konte says. "It's a great industry for these individuals because there's a lot of opportunities to advance and learn."

"There are a lot of foster youth that turned 18, and they're emancipated, which really just means now you're just out there on your own," he adds. "Yeah, 18 is sort of a legal number, but most people need support past 18, especially if you've been having challenges growing up anyway."

His work philosophy has left a mark on his staff, including general manager Antoine Hicks. Hicks attributes much of the roaster's success to the mission-driven culture.

"Red Bay has this great way of kind of rallying all of us around one common goal where for the most part I don't ever feel like I'm working for one person or for Keba," Hicks says. "I feel like I'm working towards the mission. It doesn't even feel like a job so much as it's just a responsibility to do good work and an opportunity to serve our community."

Red Bay is also keenly aware of the community it serves. With a black population of 35%, it's especially important that Oakland's food and drink establishments create a welcoming atmosphere.

Red Bay Coffee aims to provide professional development opportunities for its staff.

While marketed toward white, affluent patrons, the coffee industry is largely possible because of underpaid farmers of color in Central America, Africa, and Latin America.

Coffee distributors, including Starbucks, have worked harder to ensure that ethical practices and policies are available for both their American baristas and farmers abroad. But there are still issues. Seeing these injustices and how they predominately have affected communities of color propelled Konte to be an agent of change.

"My goal with Red Bay is to involve more people who are descendants of these coffee-growing regions of the world and giving them a greater role in the industry and, in the end, the economy," he says.

Red Bay's dedication to marginalized groups and equitable business practices makes it a great start. But Consumers can do a lot to be more socially conscious too.

Wendell Pierce, who tweeted his support of Red Bay, expertly explains the consumer's role in the current racial climate:

"Ask 'What is my contribution to that dynamic of inclusion?' By going online [to Red Bay] and ordering its coffee, it supports that mission. Everyday citizens can look in their own communities and see the people around them that reflect and check those boxes off. Support those companies that reflect the inclusive values and show respect for their community."

He left prison for the first time since he was a teenager. Then he started filming.

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14 days after finishing a 20-year sentence in prison, Bilal Coleman appeared on video in an unlikely setting: a garden full of fresh herbs.

With this, Coleman kicked off his video diary project called "The Freedom Chronicles," which documented his first year out of prison.

He doesn’t say much in that first video, which was filmed in December 2015. His mentor, another formerly incarcerated man named Anthony Forrest, shares the names of various plants around them. He encourages Coleman to break off pieces and smell the rosemary and basil — the scent of which, Coleman says, reminds him of his grandma.

These were Coleman’s first experiences of life outside of prison since he was a teenager — and most people in his place wouldn’t dream of sharing something so personal with the world.

[rebelmouse-image 19534058 dam="1" original_size="2500x1667" caption="Coleman meets goats on his 11th day out of prison. All images courtesy of Planting Justice." expand=1]Coleman meets goats on his 11th day out of prison. All images courtesy of Planting Justice.

For most people, the first year out of prison is a struggle. After incarceration, many have trouble finding stable jobs, accessing basic needs like healthy food, and transitioning back to daily life on the outside.

In fact, in Coleman’s home state of California, 7 out of 10 former inmates go back to prison within a year after being released.

Coleman was only 17 years old when he was sentenced to 20 years at San Quentin State Prison — so at 37, he didn’t exactly have a ton of work experience. Like so many others returning to their communities after incarceration, he faced the world with the odds stacked against him.

But when he got out, he had a good reason to start filming his journey — a job waiting for him at an organization called Planting Justice.

Planting Justice is an Oakland-based nonprofit that empowers people to grow their own food. In 2009, when co-founders Gavin Raders and Haleh Zandi launched the organization, they wanted to support people who are most affected by issues such as poverty and a lack of access to nutritional food. And they couldn’t think of a better way to do that than hiring people who, like Coleman, are leaving prison.

[rebelmouse-image 19534059 dam="1" original_size="1032x580" caption="Planting Justice staff members Maurice "Big Mo" Bell and Darryl Aikens with co-founders Haleh Zandi and Gavin Raders." expand=1]Planting Justice staff members Maurice "Big Mo" Bell and Darryl Aikens with co-founders Haleh Zandi and Gavin Raders.

"We really wanted to build the world that we want and need, and focus on solutions," says Gavin Raders, executive director of Planting Justice.

The organization offers a living wage and full benefits to all of its staff — an opportunity that’s all too rare for people with criminal records. Since its start in 2009, the Planting Justice team of landscapers has built over 450 edible gardens around the Bay Area.

Today, they employ about 35 full-time staff members, and just over half — including Coleman — are formerly incarcerated.

They've garnered some significant support, including plant sales from customers all over the country and $300,000 a year in small donations earned through street canvassing. They were even awarded a grant through The Kresge Foundation’s Fresh, Local, and Equitable initiative, known as “FreshLo,” for building healthy, inclusive communities.

FreshLo is all about supporting work that leverages creative, neighborhood-based food enterprises for community development, and these Bay Area gardens are brilliant examples.

The Planting Justice edible gardens grow in unlikely places — empty lots, schools, and concrete neighborhoods that don’t have fresh produce or green spaces for miles.

About 100 of the gardens they’ve built so far have been free or on a sliding scale, with fees depending on income, for people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford them.

A Planting Justice garden begins to grow at a juvenile detention center.

In spite of his inexperience, it turns out that Coleman is actually the perfect fit for this work. He’s from the very communities that Planting Justice serves and can relate to their struggles on a personal level.

"You try to instill a life skill within the youth, but what you don’t understand is you’ll receive one as well," he shares in the video for his 200th day out of prison.

Planting Justice has a success rate of nearly 100%. In nine years of existence, only one formerly incarcerated staff member has returned to jail.

What began as a simple landscaping service now includes education programs, farmer training, and a holistic re-entry program to help former prisoners transition back to a stable life.

And in 2017, after a lot of hard work and the help of over 900 donors, Planting Justice acquired a 2-acre plot of land to open up a nursery and farm. Rolling River Nursery provides landscaping services to the neighborhood, and ships plants, herbs, and trees all over the country. It’s located in deep East Oakland, California, in an area called Sobrante Park, which is known for having some of the highest rates of unemployment and crime in Oakland.

Sobrante Park is exactly the kind of place that needs green jobs like the ones Planting Justice creates, and Raders hopes that similar neighborhoods throughout the country can replicate their model.

Staff members at Rolling River Nursery.

In his final "Freedom Chronicles" video, Coleman celebrates his 365th day of freedom — and shows a total transformation.

This time, Coleman’s the one naming the plants, and he’s much more outgoing than he was when he started. His smile glows as he shows viewers his work, including the gardens he tends daily and a high school where he passes his skills on to youth.

"I feel overjoyed!" he exclaims about beating the odds by thriving in his first year out of prison.

It’s clear that he’s gained some skills, including newfound abilities in public speaking, youth education, and analyzing issues like economic and environmental injustice that affect the communities where he lives and works.

Coleman on his 365th day of freedom.

Coleman’s story shows how an opportunity to thrive after prison can help lift up a whole community.

Coleman was still working at Planting Justice at the time of this writing. He also enjoys spending time with his two kids, and he’s developed a passion for health and personal fitness.

On top of providing fresh food, vital skills, and an opportunity to escape the cycle of mass incarceration, the formerly incarcerated staff members get a chance to help lead these initiatives to transform their neighborhoods.

At the end of his last video, Coleman grins as he looks over the results of his hard work.

"Seasons pass, tomatoes are gone, the chard has popped back up like the spring," he says. "That’s resilience."