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A book was returned to the San Antonio Public Library in Texas nearly 82 years past its due date, along with a note explaining it had likely been checked out by the writer’s grandmother.
The City of San Antonio said the book was checked out in July 1943 and was due back 28 days later, but it didn’t find its way back to the library until a package arrived at the facility in June of this year.
The package, mailed from Oregon, contained the library’s copy of Your Child, His Family, and Friends, by Frances Bruce Strain.
The accompanying note explained the book had been found among the writer’s father’s possessions, and had apparently been checked out by the person’s grandmother when their father was about 11 years old, just before the family relocated so she could work at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City.
“She must have taken the book with her, and some 82 years later, it ended up in my possession,” the letter’s author wrote.
The letter also expressed the writer’s hope that there wouldn’t be any late fees for the book, as “grandma won’t be able to pay for it anymore.”
The person who returned the overdue book won’t face any fines, as the library eliminated late fees in 2021.
The book is currently on display in the lobby of San Antonio’s Central Library. It will be donated to the Friends of San Antonio Public Library for sale in the Book Cellar used book store at the end of August, the city said.
