The sticky notes thing might work, however I am prone to attach a lot of those to the books that belong to me, too...you know, to mark pages and passages that seem important, or that I'll need to remember for my research....
I should make lists. Seriously, people never ask for their stuff back, and from time to time I find myself on a different continent entirely, picking up a book and wondering "when the hell did I buy this one?" Sigh.