We all forget things from time to time.

Even the best and brightest of us can have a lapse in memory.

So when Joanie Wheeler Morgan was visiting family in Hot Springs, Va., and discovered an overdue library book that her stepfather had forgotten to return, she knew what she had to do.

The only problem? The book was 90 years overdue. 

“Youth and Two Other Stories”, written by Joseph Conrad, was published in 1902. James H.S. Ellis Jr., Morgan’s step-father, had borrowed the book in 1933 from the Larchmont Public Library in Westchester County, N.Y.

“I saw that the due date was the 11th of October, 1933,” Joanie said. “I thought, ‘My God.’”

The book, while dusty, was in “very good condition,” she said.

He was an avid reader,” Joanie said.

James died in 1978. Joanie said he had been an advertising executive. He had been living in Larchmont with his first wife and their two sons, when he checked out the book. 

He likely packed up the book by mistake when he was moving to his Hot Springs house in 1953, she said.

“Youth and Two Other Stories” by Joseph Conrad. Photo by Larchmont Public Library

Joanie reached out to the library as soon as she discovered the book that was nearly a century overdue.

The staff was delighted.

“We were very excited,” said Caroline Cunningham, a librarian at Larchmont Public Library. “It’s an unusual kind of thing to happen.”

The library had only been open for about seven years when James checked the book out, she said. It was likely one of the first titles the branch had gotten for patrons.

While there have certainly been many late books returned over the years, Cunningham said there was nothing like this book, though.

“This is by far the longest (a book has been overdue,” she said.

The library typically charges 20 cents per day for late books, with the maximum fine being capped at $5.

However, Cunningham said the fee would be waived since Joanie wasn’t the original borrower of the book.

Joanie said that initially she struggled with letting go of her stepfather’s book, but knew returning it was the right thing. She carefully packed the book and then mailed it to the library from her home in California.

I care about books, and I wasn’t about to do some makeshift shipment,” Joanie said. 

The package made it safely to the library, along with a letter from Joanie and an additional book she donated: “The Jumping Frog from Jasper County”, written by none other than her stepfather.

The book was returned nearly 90 years after it was borrowed. Photo by Larchmont Public Library

In a letter to the library, Joanie wrote, “it’s not only (James’) own story, but also the story of how advertising was done from the days of paper paste-ups and handbills to some of the most successful ad campaigns of the 1940s and ’50s.”

Library staff members were thrilled to add the new book to their collection.

“I’m interested in paying tribute to my stepfather, his life and his work,” Joanie said. Her mother, Kay Wheeler, met and married James in 1958.

“It was she who inspired and encouraged him to tell his story, and the story of how advertising was done,” Joanie said.

Hoping to amuse patrons and let them know it’s never too late to return their overdue books, staff shared the story on Facebook.

“No matter how long a Larchmont Public Library book is overdue, if it gets returned, the maximum fine is a whopping five bucks,” the post reads. “Thanks to Joanie Morgan who discovered the book among her stepfather’s belongings, it is now back at the Larchmont Library.”

“It’s a good way to spread awareness that the library is here. Hopefully, people realize libraries are still around. They’re great places for people,” Cunningham said.

Watch below for a look at the long-overdue book and the interesting story of James Ellis Jr.

Sources: People | Washington Post