Lost and Found—Two Local Groups Work Together

Our Danville community donates amazing books to the Friends of the Danville Library Bookstore. The best books go immediately into the store. And volunteers pack donations continually for the monthly Pop-Up Book Sales. However, on occasion, the volunteer staff find items that were clearly donated by mistake: family photo albums, school notebooks, utility bills and trinkets, not to mention, loads of greeting cards.

Unfortunately, it’s almost impossible to return things to a donor. There are usually no names to call. But when an item seems very special, well, one should try. Just a few months ago, a donation was received that fit that category exactly. It was a very old diary--one written by a young soldier in World War I.

Marge Taylor, who has volunteered for the Friends for almost 30 years, couldn’t believe it. Buried at the bottom of a big box, the small diary had to have been donated in error. She knew she had to at least figure out what could be done.

First, Marge worked with the librarians to check the soldier’s surname against the Danville Library records, assuming his family was nearby. But there was no match. She checked with the Friends’ group of book sorters and it was decided to put the diary on the shelf and wait a while. Maybe the family would realize their mistake and come back to the store. But time passed with no response. That’s when Marge decided to do her own deep dive online. But again, no luck.

Then Marge had a stroke of genius. Why not try the San Ramon Valley Genealogical Society? She felt optimistic reaching out to the local group. She contacted Steve Watty, the society president, and he was all in. He couldn’t wait to search for Our Soldier.

And he did it. Steve found a relative—a great-niece in Georgia! Marge contacted her immediately. As her family’s long time “history caretaker”, the great-niece was stunned: a war-time diary from her great-uncle. Many emails flew back and forth.

“I kept thinking how important something like this would mean to my own family,” Marge said. “I couldn’t give up.” After much conversation and confirmation, Marge was thrilled to send the diary to its rightful home.

One mystery that will never be solved is how that diary came to Danville. But now it’s at home where it belongs. Our Soldier’s great-niece told Marge, “My great-uncle and his two brothers enlisted in World War I at the same time… His grandchildren will be so excited when I present this to them.”

The Friends of the Danville Library bookstore is located inside the Danville Library and is open Monday through Saturday from 10am to 5pm. For more information about the bookstore check out our website: www.FriendsoftheDanvilleLibrary.org