Many colleagues insist on using them to avoid writing the prices in books, but they should know that as soon as a Post-It note is placed on a page, it begins to leave a residue.
The longer it remains on the page, the more difficult it will become to remove to the extent that, especially on coated end-papers, it may actually damage the surface.
If there’s no actual damage, there will certainly be a residue which can accumulate dust or, in worst cases, cause pages to stick together.
A soft lead pencil (B or 2B) is easy to erase and remains the best way to price books, preferably on the first white (or light) page and not in the extreme upper corner.
Wilfrid de Freitas
Bookseller, Quebec, Canada
An unwanted label
MADAM – Some years ago I bought a violin in a now closed auction house.
The label had been stuck on to the front of the instrument and THEN the lot number added in Biro. Result: a nicely etched 109 right through the varnish!
Pete Isaacs
