This news article gives a very interesting story that is an extremely unheard of occurrence in public libraries today. A history book was taken by a Union soldier from a college library in Lexington, Virginia and was returned 145 years later in February of this year. The book was returned to the Leyburn Library, which is the library for Washington and Lee University. Laura Turner, the technical services director of Leyburn Library reported that C.S. Gates acquired the book on June 11, 1864 with the misconception that it belonged to the Virginia Military Institute, when in fact it belonged to Washington college, which was located very close to the Virginia Military Institute. Gates’s family inherited the book and kept it for some time. A man by the name of Mike Dau eventually inherited the book and with his wife decided that they should return the book to it’s rightful owner. Dau was not charged with the late fee of $52,858 for the 52,858 days the book had been overdue.
This story is an extremely fascinating library tale that is almost unheard of. What is simply incredible was the decision by the Dau family to eventually return the book to the Leyburn library in Lexington. Personally I don’t I would return the book due to the potential amount of fines incurred through late fees. This story is a simple incredible occurrence in an American library. Most importantly however this event serves to be a celebration of the rich civil war history of Lexington.
