‘It’s been a strange trip’: Overdue book with note returned to library 36 years later

EVANS, Colo. (KUSA) - Librarians in Evans, Colorado still can’t believe what they found in their book return bin this month a book that was due 36 years ago.

“The general vibe of Riverside Library here would be pretty calm,” said James Melena, the community relations and marketing manager for the Riverside Library.

But a book with a big personality has stirred up quite the commotion.

“We certainly have had a lot of fun with it,” Melena said.

The book is called “Psychedelics.” Melena said it looks kind of old and smells kind of old.

“You can just feel the weight of time on it,” he said. “You can smell that mustiness of older pages here.”

And it really is pretty old.

“This card indicates when it was last checked out on May 30, 1987,” Melena said.

That was almost 37 years ago. And it just made its way back home to the library this month.

“Very funny, I couldn’t believe that the person was willing to return it,” Melena said.

It’s a good thing Riverside Library stopped charging late fees in 2015.

“Typically ... after it’s 42 days overdue, in the past it would be ten cents per day added to the account as a fee,” Melena said. “Which would equate to over $1,300 today.”

The library has no way of tracking down who returned it.

“I think this person had a great sense of humor,” Melena said.

The only thing they do know is the personality of the person who had this book is as big as the pages themselves.

“So, this is the note, saying, ‘Sorry so late, it’s been a long strange trip,’ with a smiley face of course nodding to the book,” Melena said. “So, we of course got a real chuckle out of that. It has indeed been a long, strange trip.”

The library can’t track down who returned it because they have since switched to a digital records system.

The second most overdue book, a copy of “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,” was from 2017, seven years ago.

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