What a story! I can imagine all those old photos and bookmarks would look cool in some kind of display behind the glass...

There is also a second hand book store in Wroclaw (my almost home town). It was special not only for the books, but for the big, ginger cat that lived there. He was always sleeping on the windowsill display... or just walking around the bookshelves.
His name was Dante :)

_{not my photo}