What was the common practice among devotees in Shirdi who wished to start reading a sacred text?

When a desire to read a holy book arose in the devotees' minds, a common practice was to seek Sai Baba's blessing upon the text first. As described in Chapter 27, devotees would bring books from a shop and give them into Baba's hands to receive them back as a form of 'prasad' or blessing. It was believed that reading a book blessed in this manner would lead to the acquisition of merit and was a source of supreme welfare for both the person reading and those listening. Devotees would often use an intermediary, like Madhavrao, to approach Baba at an appropriate time to facilitate this blessing process.