A series of strange coincidences

[altivo]

Most libraries in the US no longer have card catalogs. We use computer databases instead, and mine is no exception. We do, however, still maintain what is called a shelf list, a series of catalog drawers that contain one 3x5 card for each book we own, arranged in the same order in which the books would be on the shelf if they were all here. Various incidental bits of information may be recorded on those cards, such as the date a book was sent to be rebound (yes, we still do that occasionally) or the name of a donor, etc. We no longer type those cards up manually, but instead have them generated by our computerized cataloging system as we catalog each new book. The cards are actually printed in Dublin, Ohio on a specialized printer that does only catalog cards, and are mailed to us daily.

I do check to make sure all of them arrive. As it happens, the shipments for December 21 and December 23 have been missing, and I'm on the point of ordering them to be reprinted. I figured they got lost somewhere in the holiday mail, because they are just small envelopes. Today the December 23 packet arrived. We didn't notice the cancellation on the envelope (they are mailed using a postage meter, so typically have no cancellation.)

When I took the cards from the envelope, a small handwritten note fell out:

1/8/06
Hello, Harvard Diggins Library,
Just thought you would like to know that these cards arrived in Juneau, Alaska on Jan. 7, in a package of gifts from Norway. The Norway package had been damaged & repaired, & somehow your envelope ended up included--imagine our puzzlement when opening our Norwegian treasures!
Best Wishes for 2006;
Your friends in Juneau

On re-examining the envelope, sure enough, it was cancelled on the back in Juneau, Alaska, on January 8. I wonder where the other packet from December 21 got to...

Comments

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Well, that's better than receiving only the front of an envelope, scorched around the edges, in a plastic bag with a letter explaining that it was found in the remains of a truckload of mail that got involved in a highway wreck somewhere in Missouri. My first concern was for the people who may have been injured or killed. But after that I was left with the unanswered question. What was in the envelope? The address was typewritten, but not a pre-printed label. There was no return address (it may have been on the back flap) and it had first class postage but the cancellation was unreadable. I never found out who it was from or what it was.