In general, an overdue library book is a pretty common occurrence — however, one that has been overdue for an entire century is definitely outside of the norm.
The Paterson Public Library in New Jersey recently received a copy of Shakespeare’s Life of King Henry the Fifth, which was originally published in 1910. Last checked out way back in 1923, the book was discovered by a woman sorting through her late grandmother’s personal items, according to local outlet TAPinto Paterson.
When Cynthia Delhaie realized that her grandmother, Arlene Delhaie, had kept the Shakespeare book for so many years, she decided to finally return it to its rightful location at the Paterson Public Library.
“I happened to open that one, and I saw the card inside, and I said, ‘This is a library book,’ ” Delhaie said in an interview with The New York Times. Surprisingly, the last person to check out the book wasn’t Delhaie’s grandmother at all, but rather a woman named Lillian L. Burns. Both Burns and how the book came into Delhaie’s grandmother’s possession remain a mystery.
Paterson Public Library
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Upon receiving the rare find, Paterson Public Library director, Corey Fleming, said that while the overdue nature of the book was out of the ordinary, the library welcomed it all the same. “It’s never too late to return overdue library materials. This is the first time I have encountered something like this in over 20 years of working in this field.”
The library decided to waive the overdue late fees of the book and void any other penalties. “We’re going to preserve it in our history room or in a museum,” Fleming added when speaking with The New York Times.
Representatives from the Paterson Public Library did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
This isn’t the first time an impressively long overdue book has been returned. Back in March, the Louisville Free Public Library (LFPL) received two books checked out by the family of music legend Morris Perelmuter King in the 1920s and were finally returned to their St. Matthews branch.
The LFLP noted that the family could have incurred about $7,800 in fines with inflation, but the library recently transitioned to being fine-free to “encourage people to return long overdue materials.”
“We don’t have overdue fines anymore,” branch manager Kate Leitner told WHAS11. “Nobody’s in trouble. We’re just so happy that they brought the books back. It makes it very special to hear their story, but also for their family to get together like this and celebrate the memories.”
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