They say a good book stays with you for life. Apparently, if a book is really very good then it might stay with you for over 100 years. Recently, a book was returned 110 years after being checked out.
At the beginning of November, someone returned a book to Garden Valley which then transferred the book to Boise Public Library. Anne Marie Martin, an assistant from the library, said that it was noticed that the book was pretty old, and it didn’t have any current markings. This piqued their interest and so they continued looking further when they realized that no one would have checked this book for at least 100 years.
On further investigation, they dated it back to 110 years. Anne confirmed that the book was in a great condition despite being 110+ years old. They considered the book to be in a “very good to excellent” condition, as the pages were crisp and the print was legible. Well, one can conclude that the book was checked out by a true reader.
The book in question was New Chronicles of Rebecca by Kate Wiggin. It is a sequel to Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Wiggin that was published back in 1907. They issued the book on November 8th, 1911.
The irony of the situation is that the book had a print that stated, “Books may be kept two weeks without renewal unless otherwise labeled; a fine of two cents per day is imposed on overdue books.” Whoever had issued the book would thus have to pay $800 if the above-mentioned fine was still adhered to. Unfortunately for them, that has changed.
One thing can be sure, no matter when and no matter where readers will always take the best care of their books. Even 110 years after.