Book returned to library 75 years past due; war to blame?

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) — “Val Rides the Oregon Trail” is back in the hands of a Pennsylvania library — 75 years past the book’s due date.

Robert Lockman Jr. recently found the children’s book by Sanford Tousey in his basement in Shavertown, Pennsylvania. His late father had taken it out when he was 9.

Lockman tells The Citizens’ Voice he has no idea what happened but returning it was the right thing to do.

The Osterhout Free Library didn’t impose a fine. It would have worked out to over $550 at the 1941 rate.

Library officials speculate the family lost track of the book because “everyone had more important things to worry about” at the time.

Its return date was stamped Dec. 2, 1941 — five days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.