Librarians may deplore what they consider the defacing of books, but researchers at Napier University see readers' marks as a celebration of identity. Academics from Napier's Scottish Centre for the Book found that out of 600 books in an Edinburgh library more than 60 per cent had been marked, rising to 97 per cent of large print books.
Marks ranged from circling particular page numbers, adding a 0 to page 100, and putting red dots in the upper left-hand corner, to elaborate depictions of cattle brands in Westerns.
Senior lecturer David Finkelstein, speaking at a university conference for the UK Year of Reading, said a key reason was a reminder that the book had been read. "There's also an invisible reading community. You read the book because you recognise the mark of someone in your community who has read it, and you know it must be good."