OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Two books about witchcraft and one about Jack the Ripper have been returned to the University of Nebraska at Omaha library — 40 years overdue.

They came recently in a package without a return address but with a note: “Please forgive my laziness and reluctance to not only properly check them out — but for keeping them so long.” The note was signed only, “A former student.”

Joyce Neujahr is the library’s director of patron services and she says it’s not unusual for books to be returned months or even several years late. But she also says four decades late is one of the longest periods ever for the university library’s collection.

She told the Omaha World-Herald , “If the books could tell the story, it would be really interesting.”