Jamal works at a library shelving books. He has a cart full of books to put away in different sections. In the history section, he shelves 12 books. In the fiction section, he shelves 19 books. In the children’s section, he shelves 8 books but finds 4 that were left in the wrong place that he adds to his cart to shelve elsewhere. He still has 16 books to shelve. How many books did he start with in the cart?
How many books did Jamal start with? ** Jamal started with B books in the cart.
How many books did Jamal have after the history section? ** He had B - 12 books after the history section.
How many books did Jamal have after the fiction section? ** He had B - 12 - 19 = B - 31 books after the fiction section.
How many books did Jamal have after the children’s section? ** He had B - 31 - 8 + 4 = B - 35 books after the children’s section.
How many books did Jamal have left to shelve? ** He still had B - 35 = 16 books to shelve.
How many books did Jamal start with? ** Thus, he started with B = 16 + 35 = <<16+35=51>>51 books in the cart.
#### 51