We counted 25 items in the Ladd Library 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 “Etre avec des gens qu’on aime cela suffit” (“Being with people you love, that’s enough”) by Jean de La Bruyère, a French philosopher and moralist, on the outside.
Inside the card was a handwritten note from “Grandpa” to his grandson in his first week at Bates. “If you call or text me asking for a favor, I will say YES before I even know what it is,” 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 Bates
- 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 Food & Wine story, describing a Bachelorette visit to a Stew Leonard’s in Fairfield, Conn., captures the store’s Disney-esque vibe
- Water bottle, with handle, branded Bates Bobcats
