Family returns library book, a CENTURY is past due and escapes $1,756 in arrears

A long-awaited history textbook has finally been returned to the California library where it was loaned almost a century overdue.

The book, Benson Lossing’s A History of the United States, was published in 1881 and belonged to the St. Helena Public Library in Napa Valley.

In the book, which appeared in 1892, a note reads: ‘This book may be kept for two weeks.’

It was due back on February 21, 1927, making it more than 96 years overdue.

A book has been returned to the library from which it was borrowed nearly 100 years ago

The book had to be returned on February 21, 1927, making it more than 96 years late

Benson Lossing’s ‘A History of the United States’ was returned to the St Helena Public Library in California, 96 years after it was due in February 1927

Previously, overdue fines for the book were charged at 5 cents per day, meaning the current borrower, Jim Perry, would have owed about $1,756.

Lucky for him, in 2019 the library decided to abolish late fees.

Perry found the book during spring cleaning. It was hidden in a box that belonged to his late wife, Sandra, according to the Saint Helena star.

The book has been in the family for five generations, and he believes his wife’s grandfather, John McCormick, a descendant of one of St. Helena’s oldest pioneer families, originally borrowed the book but forgot to return it.

After McCormick’s death in 1963, the book passed to his youngest daughter, Babe Learned.

The book is now treated as a rare artifact and placed in a glass display case for all to see

The book was to be returned on February 21, 1927 and came from the Free Library

Jim Perry came across the book while browsing through a collection of books that belonged to his late wife, Sandra Learned Perry

When Babe Learned passed away in 2011, her daughter Sandra Learned Perry inherited the book.

JIm’s wife, Sandra, died in 2015, leaving the library book among a box of books that her husband recently started digging through.

At first, Perry returned the book without leaving his name, but when the library got the title back into its collection, the library asked for more information about where the book had been for most of the past 100 years.

Perry then contacted the library after seeing a report about the item on the news.

“I didn’t know how special it was,” Perry admitted.

“One of my employees came up to me and said, ‘Oh, someone returned that book,'” library director Chris Kreiden told me. KOVR.

‘They thought it was really cool. We didn’t quite know how old it was – it was falling apart. I’m afraid to touch it.

“We’re all just wondering where the book could have stayed for so long, you know, after it was loaned out in 1927,” Kreiden said. “For it to come this far back from this library is really unbelievable.

“I mean, we’ve had things reviewed for two or three years, maybe five years, but never that long,” he continued.

Library staff believe the book may have been one of 540 volumes available in the Free Public Library, the forerunner of the St. Helena Public Library.

The book is now treated as a rare artifact and placed in a glass display case for all to see.

“It’s never too late to return your library book,” Kreiden joked.

The library is now showing off the book along with news articles about the rare find

Library staff believe the book may have been one of 540 volumes available at the Free Public Library, the forerunner of the St. Helena Public Library, pictured above

The Guinness World Record for most overdue library book is held by a German history textbook owned by Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.

Colonel Robert Walpole, the father of Sir Robert Walpole, who is considered Britain’s first Prime Minister, borrowed the book in 1667 or 1668.

It was discovered by Prof. John Plumb while researching Walpole’s biography and returned to Sidney Sussex on January 16, 1956, a staggering 287 years too late.