New York Woman Returns Overdue Library Book After 90 Years

Who knew one innocent library book could cause such a stir?

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A woman from suburban New York recently made the news by returning a book that her stepfather borrowed nearly 90 years ago. Can you imagine the late fees on that sucker?

The Larchmont Public Library got a shock when they got a package that had the long-lost book, “Youth and Two Other Stories” by Joseph Conrad. But that's only the beginning of the story because the package came with a lighthearted twist that had everyone cracking up.

It turns out, his stepdaughter came across the book while going through her stepdad's stuff in Virginia. We can only imagine the look on her face when she found this ancient and looooong overdue library book.

The woman wanted to do the right thing, so she decided to send the book back to the library where it belonged. Good for her, right? Well, it didn't end there. The library staff couldn't resist sharing the story on Facebook.

Fine For a 90 Year Old Overdue Library Book

They couldn't help but imagine what kind of late fees the book had racked up after almost a century. Think about that - at twenty cents a day, that fine could have skyrocketed to over $6,000! WHOA!  Instead, the overdue fee was only five bucks. Yeah, you heard right. Five dollars!

Before you start thinking that libraries have gone soft on late returns this was a special (if not extraordinary) case. Since the book had been missing for almost nine decades, the library decided to cut some slack and cap the fine at five bucks.

As exciting as it was to get the book back after all these years, the library staff didn't put it right back on the shelves. They have decided to keep it as a memento for everyone to see. Can't blame them because it's not every day that a book from the past pops up like this.