I have cleaned out my bookcase, and discovered there were books I guard that I never returned in 3 situations:
- Not returning public school class literature books or textbooks, from more than 20 years ago.
- Public Libraries of cities I no longer live in, and are at an International distance from me, from more than 20 years ago.
- Friends I have lost wayward contact with but I still have books that I STOLE from their bookshelves, from more than 20 years ago.
I feel like this guilt might be preventing me reading, in some ways. I don’t know where to begin to resolve it effectively to return these books, if they need/want/have to be returned.
When my mother was in her 50s an old friend sent her a check in the mail with an apology letter stating she had stolen some books from her house when they were in their 20s. My mother had zero recollection of these books and was kind of sad her friend had carried this guilt around for so long about something my mother would have happily given her.
She cashed the check and bought used books her friend would like and mailed them with a note that said, “You can always steal my books.”
So yeah, if you return those stolen books it might lead to a rekindling of friendship or a box full of gently used paperbacks, but you will have done the morally right thing regardless of the outcome.