Overdue book returned to NY library after 90 years — and only gets $5 late feeBy David Propper
Published Oct. 12, 2023
They can close the book on this.
An overdue book was recently returned to a suburban New York library nearly 90 years to the day it was checked out — and only incurred a surprisingly low $5 late fee.
A copy of Joseph Conrad’s 1925 book “Youth and Two Other Stories” was returned to the Larchmont Public Library in Westchester County last month, just before the 90-year anniversary of its Oct. 11, 1933, due date.
Joanie Morgan of Virginia first contacted the library in July after she found the book among her stepfather’s belongings and mailed it back at the end of September, Larchmont librarian Caroline Cunningham told The Post.
It was likely the longest check-out the Larchmont library’s had since its opening in 1926, and Cunningham said the man who borrowed the book lived in the village at the time.
“This was quite a surprise for us, for sure,” she said.
“At first I thought, are you calling the right library because we actually get a lot of phone calls from Virginia because there’s a Larchmont library in Virginia,” Cunningham said of talking to Morgan.
Former Larchmont resident Jimmie Ellis lived in the village with his first wife and two kids at the time he checked the book out book, according to a letter Morgan sent the library that was cited by Patch.
“Their house was about two blocks from Larchmont Public Library. And since Jimmie, a writer and avid reader himself, no doubt encouraged his boys to read, they most likely borrowed books from Larchmont Public on a regular basis,” part of the letter states.
Ellis, who was an advertising executive, died in 1978.
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2023/10/12/overdue-book-returned-to-ny-library-after-90-years/
