Abrecadabra

Here’s another story about a lost book that found its way home: Friday, October 19, an overdue book was returned to the Osterhout Free Library in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. “So Build We,” a book about nursing by Mary S. Gardner, R.N. was due December 17, 1948. Who checked the book out? The woman who returned it had discovered it while cleaning a home that had belonged to her deceased spouse. A library card belonging to Josephine Murphy was found inside the book. The library contacted her, hoping to solve the mystery. “I don’t remember,” she replied. “But of course, there’s a lot of things I don’t remember. I’m 91.” Murphy worked as a nurse for fifty years. Family members suspect the book was checked out by Ann Donahue, Murphy's late cousin – also a nurse and a former resident of the home where it was found. The library reports that the 2-cent-per-day late fee would have come to $517.42.