Overdue Book Returned to Ann Arbor Library 83 Years Later

It's not uncommon for someone to return an overdue book to the library. It is however very rare when the overdue book was checked out over 80 years ago.

According to MLive, the book, titled ‘Social Studies in the Public Schools of Ann Arbor, Michigan,’ was checked out by Mary Rowland Fisher and due back by the fall of 1938. That book was never made its way back to the Ann Arbor library until May of this year, 83 years later.

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Apparently, the woman (Fisher) that checked out the book was an art teacher at Ann Arbor’s Tappan school. She checked out the book and at some point misplaced it by accident.

Fisher's son George Fisher and wife Kari Magill live in the same home that Mary Rowland Fisher lived in and that's how they found the book. Magill was sorting through some things when stumbled upon the book. Instead of tossing the book out, she decided to return it to the Ann Arbor library.

Magill put the book in the dropbox and left a note that read:

Please accept this (rather late) overdue book return,” Magill wrote. “Apparently Mary Rowland overlooked the due date. She was a local teacher, preparing to start a family at the time. Perhaps you might consider waiving the fine, as Mary passed away in 1967?

The library was happy to waive the late fee especially because the book was still in great condition. The book is now part of the library's history.