All of J.T. Steele's textbooks, class notes, floppy disks and scriptures are now property of Deseret Industries, yet he did not take them there.
Steele, 21, a sophomore from Tracy, California, majoring in business, left his backpack in a library day locker.
Steele had a job interview off-campus but planned to return that evening to pick up his bag. Later he felt sick and was unable to find a ride back to campus.
'I figured I would get my things in the morning, and at the worst I could find it at the lost and found,' he said.
The next morning Steele came to retrieve his bag, only to find that the library security guards had dropped it off at D.I. early that morning.
In each of the day lockers a sign warns, 'this locker is for one-day use only, and all items must be removed and the key returned prior to library closing.'
It also says, 'Items left past closing time will be considered abandoned and will be removed and taken to Deseret Industries or thrown away.'
Steele went to D.I. to find his backpack, a scene familiar for workers on the morning shift.
The sorting supervisor told Steele that earlier that day another student had come to D.I. crying because BYU library security officers had dropped off her laptop and textbooks that morning.
The sorting supervisor at D.I. told Steele that BYU students regularly come to the warehouse hoping to recover items dropped off by the library.
'It's a donation center -- not a place to punish students,' Steele said. 'The library is giving away other people's property. Those aren't donations. My life was in my backpack.'
Steele talked to the head of library security who compared the situation to parking illegally.
'In essence he's saying if you park there, we'll tow your car to the lake and you'll never get it back,' Steele said.
The library day lockers were created along with new additions to the library and became available for use in January 2000, said Cali O'Connell, library public relations coordinator.
'We wanted to try the new day-use lockers so it would be convenient for library patrons,' she said. 'But we didn't want them to become someone's permanent locker.'
D.I. came into the picture because of the campus policy that items from lockers are not accepted at the lost and found, O'Connell said.
'We don't want to become a lost and found,' she said. 'There is a concern with holding items that suddenly you've become the lost and found.'
There are no surprises for people who use the day lockers because of the sign in each of the lockers explaining the policy, O'Connell said.
'No one can say they had no idea,' she said. 'It's clearly posted on this giant 8 1/2-by-11 page.'
Generally the lockers are empty by the day's end, but sometimes there are one or two lockers still filled with items, O'Connell said.
The library plans to install a large sign above the lockers explaining the day locker policy so there is less room for problems, she said.
One library security officer said books are the most common items left in the day lockers, but there were a few occasions when laptops were left in lockers.
Wayne Beck, a library security supervisor, said some students have come in upset, but others understand the situation.
'Most say, 'I guess I should take it more seriously,'' Beck said.
Security officers take objects left in the day lockers to D.I. early in the morning. They say they are just doing their job.
'We're providing a service to all patrons of the library, but there is a standard that security enforces,' Beck said.
Valerie Lubniewski, 20, a sophomore with an undeclared major from Waukegan, Illinois, works in the BYU Lost and Found. She said she wished items left in the day lockers could be turned in to the Lost and Found.
'It doesn't just make the library look bad, it makes us look like we just want to get rid of people's stuff -- yet we really want to get it back to them,' she said.
Last week Steele approached the Associate Dean of Students Dr. Lane Fischer with the day locker issue.
'It was brought to our attention, and we have scheduled a meeting with the library to clear this up,' Fischer said. 'I think it will be resolved very quickly and easily.'
Fischer said library administration is cooperating.
In the mean time, Steele is concerned about the future of his education as he finishes the semester without textbooks and notes from the first eight weeks.
'If you think about it, this small mistake can have a huge effect on my future by damaging my grades,' he said. 'The library, of all institutions, should be assisting students in their learning experience, not enforcing punishments that can ruin lives.'