The mysterious return of a book borrowed 111 years ago from an Idaho library

By Dennis Romero and Juliette Arcodia -

A children's book checked out in 1910 from the Boise City, Idaho Public Library, was returned anonymously after 111 years.

A copy of

, written by Kate Douglas Wiggin, was returned in good condition to the Garden Valley District Bookstore, which is located about 51 miles from Boise, according to system officials. public libraries of the city.

"The librarians realized that it was quite old and that it did not have any of the current stamps, so they began to investigate the matter," the assistant of the library system told KTVB, an affiliate of our sister network NBC News. from the city, Anne Marie Martin.

The Boise Public Library copy of the 'New Rebecca Chronicles', which was 111 years on loan overdue Boise Public Library

"I don't think anyone here has ever seen a book that was loaned out so long ago returned," Martin said.

I don't think anyone here has seen a returned book that was on loan for so long. "

Anne Marie Martin Boise Libraries

First published in 1907 as the sequel to 'Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm', the book tells the story of a girl whose enthusiasm inspires her aunts.

It was adopted as a 1938 musical starring Shirley Temple as Rebecca.

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The Boise Public Library put the book in the history room, where live inquiries can be made, but not home loans.

According to library system records, the book was loaned from the Carnegie Public Library, which was housed in a building constructed in 1905 that is now part of the National Register of Historic Places and no longer houses any books.

In that library, readers could borrow books for two weeks, after which they incurred fines, as indicated on the envelope sewn on the back of the cover.

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The book was more than 40,000 days late, and after adding up all the two-cent-a-day fines,

, according to the Boise Library.

However, at the time the fines were capped at the purchase price of the book, which would have been $ 1.50, according to KTVB.

In any case, it is a hypothetical sum of the debt.

Like other library systems, including New York City, Boise has eliminated late fees.

"It would be great if we could find out what happened, but with that said, sometimes history only offers us mysteries," said Martin.