More than 100 Years Overdue Shakespeare Book Finally Returned

In general, an expired book in the library is a fairly common occurrence; However, a book that is overdue for an entire century is definitely outside the norm.

The Paterson Public Library in New Jersey recently received a copy of this book. Shakespeare’s Life of King Henry the Fifth, First published in 1910. According to local media, the book was last discovered in 1923 by a woman going through her late grandmother’s personal belongings. TAPinto Paterson.

When Cynthia Delhaie realized that her grandmother, Arlene Delhaie, had kept the Shakespeare book for many years, she decided to finally return it to its rightful place at the Paterson Public Library.

“I opened it and saw the card inside and said, ‘This is a library book,'” Delhaie said. New York Times. Surprisingly, the last person to check out the book was not Delhaie’s grandmother, but a woman named Lillian L. Burns. How both Burns and the book came into the possession of Delhaie’s grandmother remains a mystery.

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Paterson Public Library director Corey Fleming said after receiving the rare find. in question Although the delayed nature of the book was unusual, the library still welcomed it. “It is never too late to return overdue library materials. “This is the first time I’ve encountered anything like this in my more than 20 years of working in this field.”

The library decided to waive overdue fees for the book and void any other penalties. “We’ll keep it in our history room or in a museum,” Fleming said. added talking with New York Times.

Representatives of the Paterson Public Library did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

This isn’t the first time an impressively overdue book has been returned. Free Public Library of Louisville (LFPL) in March accepted Two books received by the family of music legend Morris Perelmuter King in the 1920s eventually ended up in St. Matthews was returned to their branch.

The family could face a fine of about $7,800 due to inflation, LFLP said, but the library recently became fine-free to “encourage people to return overdue materials.”

“We no longer have overdue fines,” said branch manager Kate Leitner WHAS11. “No one is in trouble. We’re so happy they brought the books back. It’s so special to hear their stories, but also for their families to come together and celebrate memories like this.”