A book has been returned to the San Antonio Public Library nearly 82 years after it was borrowed, accompanied by a note apologising for the delay. The volume, a copy of Your Child, His Family, and Friends by Frances Bruce Strain, was checked out in July 1943 and returned in June 2025 from a resident in Oregon. The note expressed hope that no late fee would be charged, adding that 'Grandma won’t be able to pay for it anymore'.
The person who returned the book explained that they had inherited it after their father’s death. The father would have been around 11 years old when the book was borrowed. The returner deduced that the original borrower was their grandmother, Maria del Socorro Aldrete Flores (Cortez), who had moved to Mexico City to work at the US Embassy in 1943 and likely took the book with her.
Inside the book, a stamp warned of a three-cent-per-day overdue fine. Without adjusting for inflation, the fine would amount to approximately $900; with inflation, it would be around $16,000. However, the library stopped charging overdue fines in 2021, so no fee was incurred.
The library reported that the book is in good condition and plans to display it at the city’s central library until the end of August. After that, it will be donated to the Friends of San Antonio Public Library and sold to benefit the institution.
While 82 years is a long time, it falls short of the Guinness World Record for library book returns. That record is held by a volume borrowed from Sidney Sussex College at the University of Cambridge in 1668 and returned in 1956, a period of 288 years.
