Library receives overdue book from 47 years ago, along with anonymous note and a surprise

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Librarian reads unexpected letter she received that was inside an overdue book from 47 years ago

An anonymous person returned a library book to a Minnesota library 47 years after the book was due.

A library in Minnesota recently received a returned book that was overdue by quite a few years — 47 years, to be exact.

Karen Rodricks, senior library services supervisor at the Washington County-based Lake Elmo Library in Minnesota, didn't think the package she found on a library service desk on Wednesday, Nov. 2, was going to be anything out of the ordinary.

But Rodricks said that when she saw that the parcel had no return address, she decided to gather the rest of her team before seeing what was inside.

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"‘Well, this is interesting … I’ve got a package here, and I wonder what it’s from,'" Rodricks said she told her team.

"I wasn’t concerned about it or anything — and I opened it and inside was this really carefully wrapped auto repair book," she told Fox News Digital. 

The handwritten package contained the Lake Elmo library's copy of "Chilton's Foreign Car Repair Manual" — along with a surprise note inside, courtesy of an anonymous sender. (Washington County Library, MN)

Inside the mysterious package was a copy of "Chilton's Foreign Car Repair Manual" neatly enclosed in bubble wrap.

Rodricks said that when she opened the book, she found an envelope filled with a "cute, thoughtful" handwritten note from the anonymous sender, she said.

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"In the mid-1970s," the note read, "I was living in Lake Elmo and was working on an old Mercedes Benz. I took out this book for reference. A few months later I moved and apparently the book got packed up. Forty-seven years later, I found it in a trunk with other interesting things from the '70s."

"It’s a little overdue, but I thought you might want it back."

The note continued, "It’s a little overdue, but I thought you might want it back. My apologies to anyone in Lake Elmo who was working on an old Benz in the last 47 years."

Rodricks looked back inside and found what she believed, at first, to be a crisp $100 bill. 

The library book returned to Lake Elmo Library included a $100 bill from an anonymous sender — and something else as well.  (iStock)

"My dad always said if you have crisp notes, rub ‘em — and there was another one. There were two $100 bills," Rodricks said.

While the money was a very kind gesture, that's not what stood out most to Rodricks, she said.

"The best thing about this whole experience was in [the person's] note and in his care to return it," Rodricks explained.

Lake Elmo Library in Washington County, Minnesota. "This is one of the nicest thank-you notes you can send somebody," said senior library services supervisor Karen Rodricks of the handwritten note an anonymous person included with his returned book.  (Craig Lassig for Washington County Library, MN)

"Even though it was 47 years late, he’s showing he really appreciated the library back in the '70s and he still appreciates the library now … This is one of the nicest thank-you notes you can send somebody."

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"The cake was the note," she added.

In an envelope, librarians found a letter from an anonymous sender — along with $200 in cash. The book the person returned was 47 years overdue. (Washington County Library, MN)

The library did have to recycle the book due to some oil stains on the binding.  

Rodricks said she saw this as a great opportunity to emphasize that Washington County Library "doesn’t charge overdue fees anymore."

"In early January 2022, we stopped charging a flat overdue rate. The only thing we would charge for is if the book doesn’t get returned. It doesn’t matter how long [ago] it is," she said.

A view inside the Lake Elmo Library in Washington County, Minnesota.  (Craig Lassig for Washington County Library, MN)

This effort by the library is rooted in its desire "to make the library more accessible and remove some barriers," according to Rodricks.

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Rodricks noted that the $200 from the anonymous sender will be sent to the Washington County Library headquarters.

"Even though it was 47 years late, [the man who returned the book] is showing he really appreciated the library back in the '70s and he still appreciates the library now." (Washington County Library, MN)

It will be placed in a pool that may be used by the different branches, including Lake Elmo Library.

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Rodricks has been working in Washington County libraries for 10 years and has overseen the Lake Elmo branch for two years.

Lake Elmo Library in Washington County, Minnesota.  (Craig Lassig for Washington County Library, MN)

"The receipt of this letter and this package confirms all my positive viewpoints of the library and working there," she said.