Slow Reader

September 8, 1976 was 45 years, 8 months and 25 days ago. That week, as the NFL season got underway, the #1 Song in American was "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty" by KC And The Sunshine Band. That year, the most popular baby girl name was Jennifer, and it was Michael among the boys.

And a certain book taken out by a certain avid reader from a library in Owasso, Oklahoma, was due to be returned on that day.

But, as I'm sure you have guessed, since millions of books were due in thousands of libraries on 9/8/76 and none of them made the news almost 46 years later, the book was not returned on time.

Last week, the Owasso Library posted the happy news that the book was finally returned. It's a minor classic written by Molly Cone, probably in the Young Adult aisle, called "Annie Annie." 

I knew a girl by that name in Walla Walla once, but she had beri beri and cancelled our trip to Pago Pago.

"Thank you to whoever returned this copy of Annie Annie to us! According to the inside pocket, this book was due back to the Central Library on September 8, 1976. Only 46 years overdue!" the library said in its Facebook post.

Other Facebook users had the same question you and I had: "What's the fine for a book this late?"

And the answer? "For those of you who are worried about late fines...this book was checked out before computer systems, so there was no way for us to tell who had it checked out. Plus the library no longer charges overdue fines so no worries either way!" the library said in the comment section.

"We have some oldies with cards still in them. They were given away by schools at one point. I hope that was the case here. So neat to see things people hold on too!" a user commented.

Our local Baltimore County Public Library recently did away with fines for late returns, but since returning things on time has been ingrained in me since I got my first library card just after the Civil War, I am just not able to bring anything back late. 

Better late than never, but still!