Book returned to library 82 years after it was checked out. Late fine amounted to over Rs 79,000

The book is on display this August in Central Library's lobby. (Image credit: San Antonio Public Library/Instagram)

A library book borrowed from a US library during World War II has finally made its way back—82 years after it was checked out.

The book, Your Child, His Family, and Friends by Frances Bruce Strain, was returned to San Antonio Public Library this June by a resident of Oregon, according to a library news release. Originally borrowed in July 1943, the parenting guide had been missing for decades until it resurfaced in a box of belongings inherited by the sender after their father’s death, news agency Associated Press reported.

In a letter shared by the library on Instagram, the individual—identified only by the initials P.A.A.G.—wrote: “The book must have been borrowed by my Grandmother, Maria del Socorro Aldrete Flores (Cortez). In that year, she transferred to Mexico City to work at the US Embassy. She must have taken the book with her, and some 82 years later, it ended up in my possession.”

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The sender added, “I hope there is no late fee for it because Grandma won’t be able to pay for it anymore.”

Fortunately, the library eliminated overdue fines in 2021. But had the original penalty of three cents per day applied, the fine would have totaled around Rs 79,000—not accounting for inflation.

Strain’s book, described by The Cincinnati Enquirer in 1943 as “a complete guidebook to the personal relationships of the child with his family and the outside world,” was praised for its candid approach to sex education. The New York Times noted that Strain, a psychologist and mother of two, was “best known for her wise, sensitive, but unsentimental presentation of sex education.”

The library has not confirmed whether the book will be returned to circulation, but its journey has already earned it a place in local lore.