The Note in the Library Book (A2 Reading Story)

A2 · ELEMENTARY Reading practice · ~1,600 words · 11-min read

This is an original story for elementary (A2) learners. It uses the past simple tense and easy, everyday words. First, read the ten key words. Then read the story. At the end, there is a small quiz to check what you understand.

The story

1 · The new town

Sara was twenty-five years old. Last spring, she moved to a new town because she got a new job in an office. The job was good, and the people at work were polite. But polite is not the same as friendly. At five o’clock, everybody went home, and Sara went home too — to a small flat with white walls and no pictures.

The town was busy. The streets were full of cars and people, and everybody walked fast. Nobody looked at Sara. Nobody knew her name.

Every Sunday, Sara called her mother. “How is the new town?” her mother asked. “It’s fine,” Sara said. “Did you make any friends?” her mother asked. “Not yet,” Sara said. “But I’m going to. Don’t worry.”

After the call, Sara sat by the window and watched the street. She felt lonely. Lonely means sad because you are alone. She had a phone full of old friends from her old town, but a phone is not a person. You cannot drink tea with a phone.

One rainy Saturday in June, Sara walked to the shops. The rain got heavier, so she ran into the first open door. It was the town library.

Inside, it was warm and quiet. The library smelled of old paper and coffee. There were tall wooden shelves, soft green chairs, and a big clock that ticked slowly. For the first time in weeks, Sara felt calm.

A young librarian stood behind the desk. His name badge said Tom. He had round glasses and a friendly face.

“Can I help you?” Tom asked.
“I’d like a library card, please,” Sara said. “I’m new here.”
“Welcome to the town,” Tom said. “The rain brought you to the right place.”

Sara walked between the shelves for an hour. In the end, she took an old novel with a blue cover: The House by the Sea. She borrowed it with her new card and ran home through the rain, with the book warm under her coat.

2 · The note

That evening, Sara made a cup of tea and opened the book. The story was beautiful. It was about an old fisherman and a lighthouse. Sara read and read.

Then, at page forty, something fell out of the book. It was a small piece of paper — a note. A note is a short message on a piece of paper.

The handwriting was small and careful, in blue ink. It looked old-fashioned, like writing from a school book of long ago. The note said:

“Hello, reader. I love this book. I read it every winter, and the ending always makes me cry. I hope it finds you well. Did you like it too? — V.”

Sara read the note three times. Who was V? A stranger wrote these words — a person she did not know — but the words felt warm, like a message from a friend.

Sara smiled. It was her first real smile in the new town.

She finished the book in two days. V was right: the ending made her cry. Then she took a pen and a clean piece of paper, and she wrote an answer:

“Dear V, I found your note. I loved the book, and yes — I cried at the end too. I am new in this town and I don’t know anybody, so your note was like a small light. Thank you. — S.”

On Saturday, Sara returned the book to the library. But first, she put her note inside it, at page forty. Then she placed the book back on its shelf, in the same place, and walked away with a secret. A secret is something you do not tell other people. She did not tell Tom. She did not tell her mother. It was hers.

3 · Letters between strangers

All week, Sara thought about the book. Did V find her note? Was V even real?

The next Saturday, she went straight to the shelf. The blue book was there. She opened it at page forty with a fast heart. Her note was gone — and a new note was in its place!

“Dear S, welcome to our town. You write like a kind person. If you liked this book, try ‘The Winter Garden’. It lives on the third shelf, by the window. Leave a note when you finish. — V.”

And so it began. Every Saturday, Sara borrowed the book that V chose. Every Saturday, she left a note and found a note. The two strangers wrote about many things. V wrote about the sea, about a garden, about strong tea with no sugar. Sara wrote about her office, her small flat, and the town.

One week, Sara was honest. She wrote: “Sometimes I still feel lonely here. The town is friendly to look at, but hard to enter.”

V answered: “This town is slow to open, like a good book. Give it time, dear S. The best chapters come later.”

Sara kept every note in a small box by her bed. Ten notes. Then fifteen. Then twenty. She often tried to picture V. Was V old or young? A man or a woman? A teacher? A sailor?

One Saturday in September, she was brave and wrote: “Can we meet one day? I would like to say thank you with real words.”

The next note talked about a new book, about the autumn rain, about everything — but not about her question. V did not say yes, and V did not say no.

Sara did not ask again. “Maybe V is shy,” she thought. “That’s okay. I can wait.”

4 · The empty week

October came, and the days got cold and short. On the first Saturday of the month, Sara went to the shelf, opened the book — and found nothing. Her own note was still there, at page forty. V did not come.

“Maybe V was busy,” Sara thought.

The next Saturday, she checked again. Nothing. The note sat in the book like a letter with no address.

Now Sara was worried. Two empty weeks. Was V ill? Was V tired of her? She stood by the shelf for a long time. Then she made a decision. She was going to ask for help.

It was not easy — the notes were her secret. But some things are more important than a secret. Sara walked to the desk and was brave.

“Tom,” she said, “this is a strange question. Somebody leaves notes in the books here. Small notes, blue ink, beautiful old handwriting. They sign only ‘V’. Do you know this person?”

Tom smiled slowly. “Ah,” he said. “You found one of Vera’s notes.”

“Vera?”

“Vera is eighty-one,” Tom said. “She came to this library every Friday for fifty years. Her husband died a long time ago. After that, she started to leave notes in her favourite books. She always says the same thing: ‘Books find the people who need them.’ Every year, one lonely reader writes back. This year, I think that reader was you.”

Sara’s eyes were wet. “Why did she stop?” she asked. “There was no note for two weeks.”

Tom’s face became serious. “Vera fell at home,” he said. “She is in the town hospital. Her leg is broken. I visited her on Monday — she was sad because she couldn’t come to the library.”

Sara did not think twice. “Which hospital?” she asked. “I’m going to visit her.”

That afternoon, she bought yellow flowers and one more thing: a book with a blue cover, The House by the Sea. And inside it, at page forty, she put a note.

5 · Vera

On Sunday, Sara stood at the door of a hospital room. A small old woman sat in the bed. She had white hair, bright grey eyes, and glasses on a chain. Sara suddenly felt shy. Then she held out the book.

“You don’t know my face,” Sara said, “but I think you know my handwriting.”

The old woman opened the book at page forty and read the note. Then she laughed — a young, happy laugh.

“Dear S,” she said. “At last. Please sit down. I want to hear everything, and I talk too much, so we need time.”

They talked for two hours. About the fisherman and the lighthouse. About the sea town where Vera was born. About Sara’s office and her flat with the white walls. It was easy, like talking to an old friend — because, in a way, Vera was an old friend.

“Why the notes?” Sara asked at the end.

“After my husband died, books saved my life,” Vera said. “But a book is better when you share it. So I made a promise to myself: every year, I am going to help one lonely reader. A note is a small thing. But a small thing at the right time is not small at all.”

Vera came home in November. After that, the notes stopped — because they were not necessary. Every Saturday at ten o’clock, Sara and Vera met at the corner table in the library. They chose books together, and after the library, they drank strong tea with no sugar. Tom often joined them and brought biscuits.

On Sunday calls, Sara’s mother asked, “Did you make any friends?”
“Yes,” Sara said. “My best friend here is eighty-one, and she is the youngest person I know.”

In spring, Vera put a pen into Sara’s hand. “Now I’m going to teach you my job,” she said. “Next winter, we are going to help a new reader. Together.”

So last Saturday, Sara chose a book, wrote her first note, and walked to the shelf by the window. But when she opened the book, she stopped. There was already a piece of paper inside, at page forty. The handwriting was not hers. It was not Vera’s. It said only five words:

“Please — I need a friend.”

Check your understanding

Read each question. Think about your answer. Then click “Show answer” to check.

Words to remember

Here are the key words again, in new sentences. Say each one out loud.

• lonely — When I moved to a new school, I felt lonely for the first month.
• borrow — Can I borrow your pen? I’ll give it back after class.
• note — She left a note on the kitchen table: “Back at six.”
• handwriting — The doctor’s handwriting was so bad that nobody could read it.
• stranger — A kind stranger helped me carry my heavy bags.
• shelf — The cups are on the top shelf, next to the plates.
• librarian — The librarian helped me find a book about space.
• secret — Don’t tell anyone about the party — it’s a secret!
• brave — She was brave and asked her question in front of the whole class.
• promise — I promise to call you when I arrive.

Talk about it · Write about it

Talk about it: How did you meet your best friend? Was it easy or difficult to make friends in a new place? Can an 81-year-old and a 25-year-old be best friends?

Write about it: Imagine you find a note in a library book. It says: “Please — I need a friend.” Write the note that you leave as an answer (4–6 sentences). Use the past simple to say something about yourself, for example: “Last year, I moved to this town…”

🎉 Well done — you finished a whole story in English! More than 1,600 words. And you now know ten new words, from lonely to promise.

But one question stays open: who wrote the new note? Sara and Vera are going to find out — and so will you, in a future story…

Next story: Read another A2 story →

About this story: This is an original A2 graded reader (~1,600 words). It uses controlled elementary vocabulary and the past simple tense, with simple connectors like and, but, so and because, so A2 learners can understand about 98% of the words. Any harder word is explained before the story and used again inside it.

Khamis Maiouf

I’m Khamis Maiouf. English is not my first language – I learned it as an adult in the UK, passed Functional Skills Level 2 in English, qualified in Hairdressing at Level 3, and I’m now studying Business at university. For over five years I’ve taught ESOL classes in my community and tutored students through GCSE English. I write every lesson on this site myself, for the learner I used to be.