We counted 25 items in Ladd Library’s Lost and Found cubby, located just inside the front door.

But when we opened up a packed pencil case, out poured 37 pens, mechanical pencils, highlighters, and markers. That makes 62 items. But please, don’t demand a recount.

The sweetest lost item was a greeting card with the quote “Être avec des gens qu’on aime cela suffitâ€� (“Being with people you love, ³Ù³ó²¹³Ù’s enoughâ€�) by Jean de La Bruyère, a French philosopher and moralist, on the outside.

Inside the card was a handwritten note from “Grandpaâ€� to his grandson in his first week at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. “If you call or text me asking for a favor, I will say YES before I even know what it is,â€� wrote the grandfather.

Here’s our accounting of items:

• Pencil case, with 37 writing implements (plus one eraser), including a PaperMate InkJoy; Bic Brite Piner Grip (pastel), Sharpie ultra fine point, Bic .5mm HB No. 2, and Sharpie highlighters (yellow and pink)
• Black trim screws, in a plastic bag, with washers
• Necklace, with crucifix
• Blue ring, perhaps lapis lazuli
• EEG headset, by Emotiv Epoc, that detects and records brain electrical activity
• Bluetooth ear buds, by Beats

• Paint brush, by Princeton Select, natural bristle brush, round blender, short handle, size 12
• Portable charger, with a variety of USB plus Lightning connections.
• Reading glasses, +1 diopeter, no brand noted
• Silicone bracelet, LGBTQ/Pride stance
• Rechargeable Li-ion battery for a Texas Instruments graphing calculator TI-Nspire CX II CAS
• Book, Everyday Stalinism, by Sheila Fitzpatrick, an account of everyday life under Stalin
• Book, Ad Infinitum, by Nicholas Ostler, a history of the Latin language
• Book, On the Origins of War, by Donald Kagan, on why states go to war
• Book, A Thousand Small Sanities, by Adam Gopnik, a defense of liberalism against dogmatism
• Chemistry notebook with periodic table

• Face mask, by Kingfa
• Tea light, battery operated, made in China
• Small tin cup, palm tree pattern, filled with lots of paper clips
• Earring, shaped like an avocado 
• Lanyard, branded ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½

• Water bottle, by Lululemon, with stickers of Van Gogh’s Starry Night and Pink Roses
• Reusable shopping bag, from Stew Leonard’s, the legendary family grocery chain in Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. This to a Stew Leonard’s in Fairfield, Conn., captures the store’s Disney-esque vibe
• Water bottle, with handle, branded ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Bobcats

As the days get warmer, the learners at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ get younger and older. ‘Tis the season of summer sports camps and research conferences.

So after photographing the student Lost and Found collection at Ladd Library, we headed to Commons to check items recently lost in the dining hall, some presumably by youngsters attending one of several ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ sports camps, and other items perhaps misplaced by grownups attending the summer-long series of Gordon Research Conferences.

Misplaced at Commons by a youngster, these notes explain what they know about freestyle and what they hope to work on during the Bobcat Swim Camp. (Jay Burns/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

These notes from a young swim camper explain proper body position for a swimmer. (Jay Burns/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

On the side of youth were notes on wide ruled loose leaf paper. Charming and purposeful, they likely belong to a camper with the Bobcat Swim Camp run by Peter Casares, head coach of swimming and diving at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½.

Under one heading, “What I Know About Freestyle,” the camper reported techniques such as keeping one’s head still. And what they want to work on: keeping arms straight and taking fewer breaths.

Another heading had notes about body position. Here, the camper drew a picture of a body in the water, showing proper alignment of the four H’s, “hands, head, hips, and heels.” (As Peter Casares likes to say about the importance of alignment, “The kayak is more important than the paddle.”)

Then we found, along with someone’s misplaced photo strip of party pix, dachshund-mermaid earrings (or is it mermaid-dachsund?); and yes, they’re available on Etsy.

And over at Ladd Library, we found another two dozen or so items that are lost and not yet found. And here they are:

• Three sets of headphones, including one with a logo celebrating 50 years of NCAA Division III sports
• Earrings and rings, various
• 64-ounce water bottle by Zulu
• Water bottle by Hydro Flask
• Bike lock key by Onguard
• Sweatshirt showing Snoopy as “Joe Cool,â€� with sunglasses, backpack, and cap on backwards (not pictured)
• Jacket from ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ field hockey, with two packets of mustard in a pocket

• Jacket from South Texas ISD Medical Professions, a high school in Olmito, Texas
• Reusable shopping bag by Hannaford 
• Reusable shopping bag by Target
• Sweatshirt from Arlington (Mass.) Catholic Cougars baseball (not pictured)
• Book, Driving While Black, by Gretchen Sorin
• Book, New Religious Movements, by George D. Chryssides
• Charging cable, USB-C to MagSafe 3
• Susan ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ “Knit-Chek” tool made by C.J. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ & Son Inc. when the famed company, at one time the largest U.S. manufacturer of crochet hooks and knitting needles, was based in Chester, Conn. The ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ factory closed in 1992, and the Susan ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ brand name is now owned by a Canadian company.

• Single knit glove with three imitation leather shank buttons
• Lift ticket from the Dartmouth Skiway
• Museumkaart, or Museum Card, that grants free entry to 400 museums in the Netherlands for one year.
• Thank you card, apparently sent to the holder of the above Museumkaart for use of the card during a visit. They wrote, “I’m so glad I got to visit you!!! Amsterdam was awesome and SO fun!! I LOVE YOU.â€�
• Eclipse glasses by Sonic advertising the “Blackout Slush Floatâ€� 
• Prepaid laundry cards by CSC, the company that owns and services the washers and dryers in almost all student residences
• Lanyard, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½-branded
• Carrying case, Texas Instruments graphing calculator by Elonbo
• Tumbler by Room Essentials (Target)

What’s particularly fun about producing each edition of Ladd Library Lost and Found is imagining how any particular item made its way to the lost and found cubby located just inside the front entrance to the library.

Take this rabies dog tag. If it were a Maine tag, we might imagine it belonged to a dog that frequents campus with a faculty or staff member. But it’s from the town of Andover, Mass. How did it travel 125 miles from Andover to Ladd Library?

Or is the tag a student’s memento of their beloved family dog? Was the dog a campus visitor during last fall’s Back to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½? Or is a lost Bay State pooch now roaming Lewiston?

As those questions roil about, we offer all the other items seen in the Ladd Library’s Lost and Found cubby on Feb. 8, 2024:

• Hand sanitizer by Dove with “eight hour moisturizationâ€�
• Bose wireless headphones
• Travel umbrella, 100 percent polyester, made in China, no brand
• Single 4-foot shoelace by Moncler
• L.L.Bean cup (minus lid) with the latitude and longitude of the flagship store (43°51’23.2″N 70°05’30.0″W) on one side and the image of a compass measuring tool on the other
• Warby Parker reading glasses
• Dempsey Challenge water bottle by Purist
• Gift card to Commons and Bobcat Den
• Small canvas tote bag, with a print of flipflops, a student giveaway last year by CHEWS, a team of students led by Director of Dining Cheryl Lacey that seeks to educate students about nutritional wellness and sustainable dining
• Post-it page markers
• Knit wool watch cap by R&B Inc. marketed as “U.S. government issue made to Department of Defense specificationsâ€�
• Knit dark green winter hat, no logo
• Hydro Flask water bottle with a sticker logo of Guayakí Yerba Mate, an organic beverage company based in California

• Electrical adaptor for a U.S. plug to Type G plug, which is used in many countries, from Bahrain and Bangladesh to Zambia and Zimbabwe
• Xiaomi ear buds
• Four pencil erasers, including a Pink Pearl latex-free eraser by PaperMate
• ID tag from the Burbank (Calif.) Community YMCA
• Sticker of Kibito, a character from the Dragon Ball universe, a loyal servant to the Supreme Kai, also known as Shin
• USB-C to lightning cord (white)
• USB-C to lightning cord (braided)
• Two Crayola colored pencils, one green-blue and the other salmon
• Sharpie Accent liquid highlighter, pink

• Papermate pen, black
• Fiskars non-stick scissors with Tetris pattern.
• Bostitch Twist-n-Sharp hand-held pencil sharpener
• Silver snake ring with green gem and blue detailing (still lost from October)
• Lululemon Glow On hair tie
• Ring with gem missing
• Black headband, no brand
• Costume sunglasses
• Sticker showing a colorful, Rolling Stones-style tongue emerging from a vintage Polaroid camera

• Book, Ten Questions: A Sociological Perspective, by Joel M. Charon
• Book, Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel, by Jeannette Walls
• Book, Perpetua’s Journey: Faith, Gender, and Power in the Roman Empire, by Jennifer A. Rea and Liz Clarke (other books in Lost and Found were Driving While Black by Gretchen Sorin and The Irish Diaspora by Donald Harman Akenson)
• Heart-shaped note of affection to Ellen — “I will always love you” — with the E made of glass beads

• Jar of edge control (a hair-styling product) by Softee
• Sticker with the word “Wanderlustâ€�
• Set of keys for a bicycle lock by Onguard 
• Hydro Flask water bottle with the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ seal and a Sasquatch sticker by Stickers Northwest 
• U.S. quarter coin featuring the 2008 statehood design for Alaska on its reverse: a grizzly bear appearing from the river with a salmon in its mouth with the state motto, “The Great Land,â€� which comes from the Aleutian word “Alyeskaâ€� 
• Two graphing calculators, one a TI 83 Plus and the other a TI 84 Plus CE. The latter, introduced in 2015, adds a more powerful processor and a higher-resolution color screen
• Six earbud cases: four empty and two with buds

As we were setting out the display of items for this edition of Ladd Library Lost & Found, Professor Emerita of Mathematics Bonnie Shulman stopped by because something had caught her eye: a Texas Instruments TI-84 Plus graphing calculator.

“I need one of those,” she said — not to add up grocery or heating bills but, as she explained, for a course she’s coming out of retirement to teach during the winter semester.

The course is “Mathematics for Social Justice,” which teaches students how to put their math skills in service of real-world, socially relevant issues. In fact, Shulman herself created the first iteration of the popular course about a dozen years ago.

“I consider it the crown jewel of my teaching career. I couldn’t resist the offer to come back and teach it!”

And need for calculators? Her students will use the venerable TI 84 on a simulation probability model for a unit on “Driving While Black or Brown,” she explains.

In addition to the TI 84, here’s what we saw:

• Book, Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture, a series of nearly 1,200 entries about Chinese cultural subjects written by an international team of specialists and edited by Edward L. Davis
• Men’s basketball shoes, size 12, by the Chinese sports apparel company Li-Ning, specifically the Yu Shuai XiV Boom Low, with an Orlando Twilight design.
• Notebook with multivariable calculus math problem set 
• Apple AirPods Pro
• Apple AirPods
• Book, New Religious Movements, by George D. Chryssides explains that an organization founded “within the past 150 or so yearsâ€� cannot be easily classified within one of the world’s main religious traditions
• Broken Ben Folds yo-yo with words: “Never gonna say Yolo no mo,’â€� a lyric from his song “Exhausting Lover”
  
  
  
• Black iPhone charger by POWERTEK, 6 feet long
• Leather bracelet bearing the characters “UWCD 2023,â€� which might refer to a United World Colleges school, Dilijan College, is the 14th member of the UWC movement
• White iWALK mini portable phone charger
• White MacBook charger
• Glass water bottle featuring the wordmark of the Kessler Scholars program, part of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½’ first-generation-to-college Bobcat First program, with sticker of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Student Writing and Language Center and Cold Front, an ultimate frisbee team on campus
• Reading glasses by Lunette Optic in orange-lined velvet case 
• Silver snake ring with green gem and blue detailing 
  
  
  
• Dummy SD card by Dell, used as a place holder to protect the socket’s electrical contacts and mechanical mechanism
• Galaxy print stress ball 
• Glass ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ water bottle
• Book, Half Broke Horses, a true-life novel by Jeannette Walls depicts the freedom of rural life, its joys and struggles, and celebrates the courage and spirit of its protagonist, Lily Casey Smith
• Chemistry exam with a celebratory sticker of a cat dressed as a pirate. (The exam’s “coversheet” asks the student a few non-chem questions — such as “What did you do for fun this week?” and “How are you feeling about the exam?” — which gives the professor a chance to check-in on their students’ well-being.
  
  
  
• Silver costume sunglasses
• Wooden hair comb by Beijing W-Town
• Fuscia-colored tumbler by zak! 
• Student ID card from Auburn Middle School
• Travel electronic adapter by Trans-World International
• Sticky-tab pad by Semikolon with a mustache-shaped sticky note bearing the words “don’t ask, don’t knowâ€� on the outside cover
• Black-and-white checkered stainless steel tumbler with plastic inner liner by Room Essentials
• Green and white trucker hat by Pacific Headwear
• Foot-shaped bottle opener

More than three dozen items spent winter break in their Lost and Found cubby in Ladd Library, patiently awaiting the return of their losers (hmm, that didn’t sound right) on Wednesday, Jan. 11, the first day of the winter semester here on campus.

The 38 items are:

• Stainless steel Command brand metal wall hook 
• PeeperSpecs reading glasses (and perhaps blue-light blocking), 1.25 magnification
• Gray velvet scrunchie
• Gray cashmere fingerless gloves by Meg Cohen
• Magnetic suicide-prevention card sponsored by the Tulip Project, which seeks to end the stigma surrounding mental illness
• Pencil case with logo of the Association of Accredited Naturopathic Medical Colleges
• Pink lipstick from NARS Cosmetics’ “Orgasm” collection
• No. 2 Dixon Ticonderoga pencil (unsharpened)
• Single hoop earring
• Single snowflake earring

• Baseball cap, with the logo of FC Barcelona, Futbol Club Barcelona
• Carhartt knit beanie
• Several empty Bluetooth earbud cases
• HOYEE EYES blue-light blocking glasses with rainbow glitter frames
• Colgate toothpaste in a newly developed recyclable tube, which the company says is the first to be “recognized by external recycling authorities as recyclable,â€� made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE), the same No. 2 plastic used for milk and detergent bottles
• Felt wool fedora (large) from New York Hat Co.
• Diary with “Norwayâ€� and an image of a moose, the country’s national animal, on the wood cover
• Pocket comb, Conair “Style on the Goâ€�
• LensCrafters eyeglasses case (empty)
• 1/8 inch to 1/8th inch audio cable
• Scotch brand tape dispenser (empty)
• Lip balm in a case wrapped in two washi tape designs: blue and white stripes on the top, and stars and planets on the bottom (Washi is a traditional Japanese handmade paper)

• Single Bluetooth earbud
• Key/ID tag with YMCA logo
• Personal hand sanitizer with the logo of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Campus Activities and Traditions
• Yeti Rambler 64-ounce water bottle with:
  — Sticker of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Peer Health Educators logo
  — Sticker of the ‘Iolani School Raiders logo of the college preparatory school in Honolulu
  — Sticker “Chillin’ since ’93,� a slogan of Brandy Melville, a European clothing and fashion accessories brand
  — Sticker of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Center for Purposeful Work
  — Two silicone wrist bands around it, of the Southern California Volleyball Association and Boston Bruins
• Futuro-brand knee support
• Formal bow tie (ivory) by Billy London with an elastic band extending it past 18 inches
• Summer 2017 issue of Art Journal, a magazine published  by the College Art Association of America, celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day
• Tila bead bracelet

• Book, The Al-Hamlet Summit, a play by Kuwaiti playwright and theater director that places Shakespeare’s Hamlet into a 21st-century Middle Eastern setting
• Book, Our Class, a play by Polish playwright Tadeusz Slobodzianek and adapted by Ryan Craig that follows one-time school classmates from 1925 to present times, through weddings, parades, births, deaths, emigrations, and reconciliations
• Book, Antigonick, an innovative translation of Sophocles’ Antigone by Anne Carson 
• Bag with assorted teas, including a tin of Earl Gray from Cambridge & Thames, and a tin of hojicha from Harney & Sons
• Photo of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ friends having fun at the Halloween Dance this year
• Notebook with a few to-do’s for the physics course “Introductory to Quantum Mechanics” and the biology course “Evolution and Interaction of Life”
• GPS running watch, the Garmin Forerunner 235, with wrist-based heart rate display

It’s finals week, and we think students are foregoing routine tasks like laundry. How do we know? Two prepaid laundry cards were among the items in the Ladd Library Lost and Found on Dec. 6.

Here are the 19 items:

Pencil, imprinted with a single word in all caps: “ASPHALT”

Earbuds case, Apple brand, empty, with the word “Smile” and a happy face on the outside

Earbuds case, with wireless earbuds inside that feature LED readouts of Bluetooth battery strength; no brand noted

Honey lip balm, Burt’s Bees brand, still lost from the last edition of Lost and Found

Bracelet, with a moose (or deer) and a snowflake, still lost from last edition of Lost and Found

Five hair-organizing devices, including three scrunchies and two claw clips

Earring, single

Personal reusable container, empty, with ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ logo. Dining Services gives out these lidded, insulated stainless-steel mugs to reduce paper waste

Nalgene bottle, 32 ounces and mostly full with water (we think), with Bobcat logo

Remote control, to operate the popular multicolored LED light strips that students hang in their rooms

Face covering, evolvetogether brand, one of the first consumer-facing, FDA-approved medical masks. “And while many styles have experienced fleeting popularity, it’s evolvetogether’s minimalist, disposable face masks that have by and large become the go-to mask,” says Vogue.

Baseball cap, black denim, Jack & Jones Vintage Clothing Co., with tagline: “Once tried, always used”

Laboratory manual, for organic chemistry, created by Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Andrew Kennedy, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Jennifer Koviach-Côté, and Assistant in Instruction Lorna Clark. The manual includes a variety of experiments, including how to purify an unknown compound by distilling it.

Green three-ring binder, Staples brand, with a folder inside jam-packed with completed problem sets and other coursework in the mathematics course Calculus II

Photographic print, on DNP Paper, showing a dog, from its POV, looking at a cat curled up on a Persian chair

Two prepaid laundry cards, by CSC , the company that owns and services the washers and driers located in almost all student residences

Notebook, for an introductory course in cultural anthropology, noting a final project proposal that might include explaining the implications of the German concept of “Kultur,” in the sense becoming civilized

ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ rowing team jacket, L..L.Bean brand, in the “Mountain Classic Puffer Jacket” style, featuring the rowing logo, based on the college seal

Black woman’s glove, brand unknown, with small zippered accessory pocket, convenient for car key, debit card, tissue, or money

A warm stretch of early fall weather might explain a couple things about the Ladd Library Lost and Found on Sept. 29. 

First is what we »å¾±»å²Ô’t see: many items. Perhaps the nice weather and the pandemic are keeping ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ students happily outside. 

The second is clothes. We’re used to seeing fleece pullovers and the like. As cool Maine mornings give way to warm afternoons, and students eliminate (and lose) layers. Today we saw a T-shirt and tank top…. Now ³Ù³ó²¹³Ù’s a commitment to shedding layers.

Here are the 18 items:

• Electric blue ribbed cropped tank top, extra small, by Babaton
  
• ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ pre-shrunk cotton/poly blend T-shirt, by the “fashion-forwardâ€� company District Clothing
  
• Burt’s Bees honey lip balm, a perennial lost and found favorite
  
• Kanguru brand thumb drive, 1 gigabyte, another lost and found favorite
  
• Eastpak brand pencil case, empty
  
• Anker Soundcore Life P2 wireless earbuds case, empty

• Small container of Play-Doh, the manipulating and squishing of which can relieve stress, ease tension, and release endorphins

• Contigo travel mug, black

• Water bottle, by Hydro Flask

• Bracelet with a moose (or deer) and a snowflake

• Book, Reading Erna Brodber: Uniting the Black Diaspora Through Folk Culture and Religion, by June Roberts. The book looks at post-colonial infrastructure of Caribbean society and life through the writings of the Jamaican writer, sociologist and social activist.

• Book, Mad for God: Bartolomé Sánchez, the Secret Messiah of Cardenete, by Sara Tilghman Nalle.
  
  Described as a “gripping tale of madness and religious conviction,� the book tells the story of a Spanish peasant who believed that God had sent him in divine retribution for the crimes committed by the Spanish Inquisition. Professor of History Karen Melvin’s students are reading the book this week for her course on the inquisition.

• Power cord for iPhone with a Lightning connector
  
• Power cord for a Dell laptop

• Mini mechanical pencil with logo of Muskie Archives and Special Collections

• Face covering, worn to prevent the spread of infectious diseases (but you knew that)

• Pigna Monocromo notebook, featuring ruled pages with five-millimeter squares

• Water bottle by Garyline, featuring the University of Vermont logo and four ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ stickers:

1. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Campus Life and Traditions, a student-led program that plans inclusive events 
2. Legacy, the brand of
3. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Green Dot, the college’s bystander intervention program
4. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Academic Resource Commons, the one-stop shop in Ladd Library for academic support

As we were setting out items for this installment of Library Lost and Found, Elliott Vahey ’23 of Shaker Heights, Ohio, stopped by. And pointed. “That’s my bike lock key!�

Vahey was able to ID her key thanks to the scrap-fabric friendship bracelet that she had attached to the key. “I made the bracelet as a way not to lose the key. But I still lost it,� she said with a laugh. (Reunited and it feels so good.)

Scanning the table, Vahey spotted another item: a car fob attached to a Buckingham Browne & Nichols lanyard. “That’s my friend’s key fob!� Sure enough, a followup email from Vahey reported that her friend has since claimed the found fob. Fabulous!

Depending on how you count it, there are either 19 lost items for this installment, or 17 lost and two found:

Eyeglasses, Warby Parker, for mild nearsightedness in the .

Book, Collected Stories, by Franz Kafka, which, according to the introduction by Gabriel Josipovici, “gives us food we need.â€� The author “will not be forgotten as long as there are books to read and human beings to read them.â€� 

Key, Real brand, for a bike lock (claimed by Elliott Vahey!).

Canvas tote bag, with the Green Dot logo of the college’s bystander intervention program.

Car fob, Hyundai brand, with Buckingham Browne & Nichols lanyard (claimed!).

Book, Dangerous Speech: A Social History of Blasphemy in Colonial Mexico, by , a systematic exploration of blasphemy as a social phenomenon in 16th- and 17th-century Mexico.

Book, Other People’s Myths: The Cave of Echoes, by Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty, who “holds the hope that by , Westerners might bypass the bloodless cynicism of so much contemporary thought and ‘skim close to the ground of the human heart.’�

Oral dam, Satin brand, grape flavored, “the only oral dam on the market with a hermetically sealed pack.â€� 

The dam was among handouts — condoms, dams, lube, stickers, brochures — and presentations during Sex Week, April 28–May 1, an education and awareness program run by student Peer Health Educators, with support by Residence Life and Health Education, that seeks to normalize conversations and communication about sex, with a strong focus on inclusivity.

Charger, USB to lightning cable, Apple brand.

Bottled water, Ascend brand, sourced from “protected springs in Peterborough, N.H., Red Hook, N.Y., Plympton, Mass., and/or Somers, Conn.â€� 

By Maine law, sellers of bottled water must include, on the label, “words that, without the use of abbreviations or acronyms, identify the name and geographic location of the water body, well, or public water supply from which the water was obtained.�

Earrings, assorted

Black knit glove, single

Contact lens case, empty

Book, Looking Good: College Women and Body Image, 1875-1930, by Margaret A. Lowe, who draws on student diaries, letters, and other materials to examine the ways college women at Cornell University, Smith College, and Spelman College regarded their own bodies during the period. 

Water bottle, Contigo brand

Jacket, black quilted, Weatherproof Vintage brand.

Face mask, by Eliel, creator of “best of the best high-performance cycling gear on the planet.â€� 

Book, Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision, by Henry Kamen, takes “relativism and apology too farâ€� by claiming that the notorious tribunal “had little interest in cruelty and often attempted to temper justice with mercy.” 

Book, in a three-ring binder, a 1,307-page printout of the , used in the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ biology course of the same name. Fun fact: the word “ribosomeâ€� appears 177 times in the book.

So much has changed during the pandemic. What hasn’t: Students still lose things in the library. (Or maybe they just leave them there, like printouts of thesis chapters.)

Stopping by the Ladd Library Lost and Found on Dec. 17, we saw and identified these items.

• Quarter zip hoodie by Toad&Co, self-described creator of “socially and environmentally committed garments that are equally suited for the rigors of the trail or the tavern.”
  
• Book: Cold Wars: Asia, the Middle East, Europe (2020), by Lorenz M Lüthi, as “the latest major work to suggest that our understanding and collective memories of the conflict should be reassessed. With 700-odd pages of dense, dry text, it is a heavyweight contribution.â€�
  
• Four pens, including a classic Bic Crystal style, which was included in the Museum of Modern Art’s . Plus, a pen from Needham (Mass.) Bank.
  
• Book: The Rise and Fall of the Associated Negro Press: Claude Barnett’s Pan-African News and the Jim Crow Paradox (2017), by . The book tells about the Chicago-based Associated Negro Press, which “fought racism at home and grew into an international news organization abroad,” according to a description. It was headed by Claude Barnett, “one of the most influential African Americans of his day and a gifted, if unofficial, diplomat who forged links with figures as diverse as Jawaharlal Nehru, Zora Neale Hurston, and Richard Nixon.â€�
  
• Scrunchie (there’s always one in lost and found)
  
• Book: My Face Is Black Is True: Callie House and the Struggle for Ex-Slave Reparations (2006), by , who tells the story of Callie House, in the late 19th century.
  
• Several water bottles, including a Camelbak Eddy style imprinted with “Choate Rosemary Hall Summer Programs,” and one whose logo is mostly rubbed off.
  
• Several chapters of a senior thesis, heavily highlighted, focusing on the history of the global war on terror.
  
• Book: What Time Is Purple, by Tom Hammond. The top review on Amazon says, “The book was in extremely excellent condition, just as advertised. It arrived promptly.â€�
  
• Pop-up hair brush
  
• Book: The Elements of Teaching Writing: A Resource for Instructors in All Disciplines (2003), by Katherine Gottschalk and Keith Hjortshoj. It’s about what it says!
  
• One winter glove, no brand name seen
• Book: Penobscot: The Forest, River, and Bay (1996) by the Island Institute of Maine and on a coherent past as a call to action based on the environmental and social threats of the mid ’90s.â€�
  
• Eyeglasses by Longchamp, either anti-glare or prescription
  
• One earring
  
• Apple device charger
  
• Book: Religio Medici and Urne-Buriall (2012), by Sir Thomas Browne. In 2012, it was a New York Review Books “Classic Books Collectionâ€� selection. Browne is described as “one of the supreme stylists of the English language: a coiner of words and spinner of phrases to rival Shakespeare; the wielder of a weird and wonderful erudition; an inquiring spirit in the mold of Montaigne….[H]is work is quirky, sonorous, and enchanting.”
  
• Book: Our Brilliant Eternity (2020), by Paul Baribault, a Lewiston playwright and children’s book author. One description says it’s about “our soul’s climb toward Enlightenment, and how the Earth is a schoolroom, not a courtroom, in this journey.â€�

“I think I’m on the phone with someone’s mom,� said a wide-eyed Jaimin Keliihoomalu ’21 of Kapolei, Hawaii.

I had been arranging items on a low wooden table to photograph for this edition of Library Lost and Found. Nearby, studying with a friend, Keliihoomalu was taking a look at a pair of lost (but soon to be found) Bluetooth earbuds.

“How do you work these?� he asked before fitting them in his ears and powering them up.

Good buds: Vidyut Yadav ’20 of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, poses with Jaimin Keliihoomalu ’21 of Kapolei, Hawaii, after the case of the lost ear buds was solved. (Jay Burns/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

It was at that moment that Keliihoomalu apparently connected to someone’s phone and, perhaps, to someone’s mom. So Keliihoomalu quickly took the buds out, a bit abashed. But still very curious, he put them in again and powered them up again. And again he was in conversation with someone. “She asked me if I disinfected them,� he said.

In search of the other half of the paired device, he and I headed toward the nearby forest of study carrels on the first floor of Ladd. Suddenly, a student stood up, looking at his phone, clearly bewildered. He saw Keliihoomalu; they gestured a greeting to one another as he walked over.

It was Vidyut Yadav ’20 of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and yes, he’d been on the phone with his mom, Anuradha, when Keliihoomalu inadvertently cut in to the call via Bluetooth. “I think these are yours,� Keliihoomal said. “Sorry, but I put them in my ears.�

“It’s all good. Thanks, man,� said Yadav, who’d lost the ear buds a few days before and had tried to find them, not yet realizing there was a Lost and Found.

The earbuds no longer lost, the once-18 items became these 17:

• A ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½-branded carabiner
• USB thumb drive
• Knit cap by Greenbrier International, a brand of Dollar Tree
• Single earring with golden discs
• CSC Serviceworks money card for use in campus washers and dryers
• Jalousie brand air-purifying bag (useful for deodorizing shoes) filled with bamboo charcoal
• Hand-made clay mug with one handle broken off
• Book: Our Iceberg Is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions, by John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber, which shares an iconic fable to show how an organization can do well in times of rapid change
• Book: Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved, by Frans de Waal, which explores the biological foundations of one of humanity’s most valued traits: morality
• DS-Max PN-955 35mm film camera
• Water bottle from Philadanco, the Philadelphia Dance Co.
• Two course notebooks, one for a math course and one for a geology course, the latter with hand-drawn illustrations of types of rock deformation: translation, rotation, and strain
• Pink wired earbuds
• Pink pencil eraser
• Single glove, no brand
• Vaseline petroleum jelly
• Mastercard debit card
• Notebook from the Tufts Office for Campus Life

Note: Valuable lost items like credit cards are kept in a secure area behind the circulation desk.