California man returns book to public library after nearly 100 years

People usually borrow books from libraries and take months to return them, but the St. Helena Public Library in California says a man has returned a book after nearly 100 years.

An American historian Benson Losing’s book A History of the United States is believed to have been published in 1881.

The book was taken from a California library with a return date of February 21, 1927, but a man returned a few days earlier and returned the book.

The details of the person who left the book could not be known.

According to library director Chris Creedon, he has no money owed to the library because it has not used fines since 2019.

If fined, the person would have to pay $1,756 (£1,413) after the library’s old nickel a day fine (4p).

Inside, the original library note is appropriately intact, stating: “This book may be kept for two weeks” and “Damage to books, and loss of books must be paid for.”

The fantastic story was posted on the St. Helena Public Library Instagram page. In the post the book can be seen in a glass case, with torn pages preventing further damage.

The post read: “How amazing! Someone checked this book out of our library 96 years ago. It just goes to show, it’s never too late to return your library book. The book is ours.” Displayed at the entrance.”

Creedon said St. Helena Star Newspaper: “It would be nice to have it on display someday but we haven’t figured out how to do it.”

Library staff believe the book was one of 540 volumes available when the Free Public Library building opened in 1892.