98 years late: A library book due in November 1926 was just returned to an Ohio library

A popular 20th-century book has finally been returned to an Ohio public library, and it’s only 98 years late.

“Wild West” by Bertrand Sinclair first hit the shelf at the Price Hill branch of the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library on May 14, 1926, said Christopher Smith, a reference librarian who works there.

“This was a hot new book in 1926,” he told USA TODAY on Tuesday. “That's probably why they checked it out on Halloween weekend. There's something new to read, and (Sinclair) was a big deal at the time.”

Smith said the reader probably checked the book out around Halloween, because the log inside says it was slated to be returned on Nov. 23, 1926. That’s about three weeks the person was permitted to have the book, he said.

The book was finally returned around Thanksgiving 2024 after the reader died, Smith said. Loved ones were cleaning when they found the book and returned it to the library’s Westwood branch.

‘Oh my God. This had been checked out 98 years ago.’

In 34 years working in the library system − 18 with the genealogy and local history department − Smith comes across a lot of books and materials, he said. Sometimes the books are in bad shape, sometimes they’re missing spines, or there are other situations he’s asked to remedy.

When “Wild West” was brought to the Westwood branch in November last year, someone called Smith and asked if he’d like to see it. 

“It sat on my desk for a month or more before I really got to it,” he said. “Then I looked into it and thought: ‘Oh, my God! This had been checked out 98 years ago.’”

Smith has received books checked out since the 1970s, 80s and 90s, but never the 1920s, he said.

He doesn’t know much about the reader who checked it out, only that they died and that loved ones were responsible for returning it. Often when loved ones are cleaning and tying up loose ends, items get thrown away, Smith said. But not this book.

“They took the extra steps and brought it to the library,” he said. “There's almost like divine guidance with this book. … It was returned in November of 2024. That was 98 years to the month when it was due.”

Because the original book was missing in action, the library bought another copy decades ago to replace it, Smith said. He had the original returned to the library’s catalog in January.

When asked about late fees, Smith said the library no longer charges them, but back in 1926, the fee was 2 cents a day. Had the fee actually been charged, the total would have been nearly $750.

What’s next for the lost piece of literature?

Smith said the library, which was established in 1853, has 4 million books in its collection, although some are reference only, meaning patrons have to read them at the library and cannot check them out. 

The library has a Bible collection that includes a King James Bible from 1603, as well as books dating back to the 1200s.

“I did just check in a book the other day from 1886 that still circulates,” he said.

As for the "Wild West" book from 1926, Smith said the author was an “interesting guy.”

Sinclair was born in 1881 in Scotland, and his family emigrated to Canada, Smith said. He ran away from home and eventually became a cowboy in Montana.

“He loved to read, but he didn't like the novels that were written about the West at the time,” Smith said. “He thought they were rather unrealistic.”

He started writing books around 1912, particularly Westerns, and they were quite popular, Smith said. He wrote about 60 books, stopped writing in 1936 and became a professional fisherman. He retired in 1966, and he died in 1972.

Now 99 years after it was published, another reader was planning to check out Sinclair's recently returned “Wild West” on Tuesday, Smith said. Its replacement is already checked out.

The log in the recently returned “Wild West” book illustrates just how popular the book was: It's riddled with return dates between May and November 1926, Smith said. 

He’s glad the person who returned it to the library did so.

“The fact that this came back and it involved other human beings that got it back to us, everybody played their part,” he said. “Now, it's going out to a new patron.”

Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.