The simple, typed letter arrived at the Carroll Public Library with no name and nary a hint as to its sender.

Just a postmark from San Diego, a crisp $100 bill and an admission.

“When I was child living in Carroll I took some books and did not return them,” the letter received just days ago reads. “I’m currently making amends for the wrongs that I have committed in the past so I am enclosing $100 to pay for the long lost books and also make a contribution.”

Library director Linda Reida, who is leaving Carroll for retirement in North Carolina this summer, has many reasons to be nostalgic these days.

This letter is another poignant one.

We, of course, have no idea what books this reader checked out – or how long ago this occurred. It’s a good guess that the letter-writer/contributor is a senior (the writing style would indicate that to me), but we just don’t know.

We aren’t trying to find out, either, as the generous and heartfelt admission stands on its own. It meant a lot to the people at the Carroll Public Library who care so much for our books.

“Oh, you bet you,” Reida said. “We were all just thrilled actually.”

Reida tells us that it’s rare for books or other items to go unreturned, although there are some problems with DVD check-outs.

In fact the loss rate is staggeringly low. Of the library’s 87,203 items, only 271 are listed as lost, which is three one-hundredths of a percent.

The story offers many life’s lessons, not least of which is that guilt, even over small things, can nag and tear at one, maybe in ways people don’t even realize until later in life.

In the end, there isn’t really much to analyze about this neat little story because it is just that, a neat little story.