THE December exhibition in Darlington library’s Centre for Local Studies is of local residents’ bookplates. In times gone by, wealthier people didn’t scrawl their names in their books, they stuck in a bookplate, which was usually a work of art in its own right. It often included an emblem connected to the bookowner, plus a motto or message. Here are some bookplates belonging to leading Darlingtonians. The library’s own bookplate, below, which can still be found in many older books, was designed by Frederick James Glass, the headteacher of the Darlington School of Art from 1920-1922