A former Portland State University student with a guilty conscience returned two books to the school library earlier this month… 40 years late.
The books were rubber banded together and accompanied by a slightly creepy note saying the borrower got them in 1963 for a high school speech class, but decided now is the time for them to “go back home. Outdated—yes—but I’ll let you decide their fate now.”
The books, “Basic Principles of Speech” and “Preface to Critical Reading,” were checked out on January 3, 1963, according to the stamp on the inside of one. The other is marked for library use only.
Librarian Joan Petit says records don’t go back that far, so she can’t tell who had the books, but that they’re too old to be put back in circulation.
Both are marked “Portland State College Library.” The college became a university in 1969.
Uh, 1963 to 2015 would be more like 50 years late, not 40 – but it was for a speech class, not a math class, so who’s counting?