Woman Returns Book Overdue For 94 Years

VERNON (AP) –– The book Kelly Woodward recently returned to the Vernon Public Library was due back on May 3 –– that is May 3, 1909.

At the 1909 rate of two cents per day, the late fine would have amounted to $685. But the library directors decided to waive the penalty.

Woodward said she found the 1904 edition of 100 Choice Selections No. 4 edited by Phineas Garrett in her parents’ attic. The book is a collection of readings, recitations, plays, prose, and poetry. She brought it back to the library in March.

“I said, ‘I’d like to return a book. It’s 94 years overdue,’ and the woman’s mouth dropped,’’ Woodward, a Chaplin resident, said.

Woodward thinks her great-aunt, Mary Angie Elliott, a graduate of Rockville High School, or her grandmother, Hannah Kingsbury Elliott, borrowed the book and never returned it. Both women are deceased.

Library spokeswoman Denise Stankovics said the library had no idea that the book was missing from the collection.

Though out for nearly 94 years, the book will not return to the library shelves.

Instead, it is being kept in a display case in the adult department reading room with other library memorabilia and souvenirs from the 20th Century.

“It’s a pretty exciting find,’’ Stankovics says. “We’re happy the patron was conscientious enough to return the book, even after all these years.’’