Rogers Library Receives Overdue Gift
Last updated Monday, January 2, 2006 7:08 PM CST in Front
By Jaclyn Houghton
The Morning News
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ROGERS -- It was an accidental tourist with a tale as adventurous as the contents of its pages.
For the past several months a weathered paperback called the passenger seat of a semi-truck home as it traveled the United States.
A CalArk International truck driver from Coalmont, Tenn., discovered the book, which was from the Anne of Avonlea series by Lucy Maud Montgomery, at a truck stop in Salt Lake City.
He opened the cover of the book and saw it had journeyed about 1,300 miles from the shelves of the Rogers-Hough Memorial Library, now called the Rogers Public Library.
Arthur Devlin, 66, was not interested in reading his newfound treasure, but decided he would send it back to the Arkansas library. Devlin found the book sometime around August and it accompanied him on deliveries until early December, when he gave it to his girlfriend to send to Rogers.
Jeanne Woolsey of Rolla, Mo., attached a note explaining the book's journey, paid $1.42 in postage and sent it to the address listed inside the book.
"I was hoping I wouldn't get an overdue notice in return," said Woolsey, 67.
She did receive a response from the library, but it was not an overdue notice. Instead, it was a thank-you note signed by several library employees.
"It absolutely made me smile," said Devlin, referring to the contents of the letter that Woolsey read to him. "I personally would pay a heap-side more at Disney World and wouldn't have half the fun" as the adventures with the book.
Fran Levin, assistant director of the Rogers Public Library, said it is rare that a lost book is returned to the library, especially after more than a decade. The address listed in the book was incorrect because it was that of the old library on Second Street, she said, pointing out that the current library opened in 1994. A letter carrier delivered the book to the present library despite the change of address.
In 2004, the library removed 2,232 items from its computer system because they were missing, falling apart or outdated, Levin said. Lost library material is not be removed from the system for at least a year in case it reappears, she said.
Discarded items are given to the Friendly Book Store in Rogers, which sells used books, then feeds the proceeds back into the Rogers Public Library.
Since the book Devlin discovered was no longer in the computer system and was too old to reinstate, the book went to the bookstore to be sold and find a new home, Levin said.
The book's shelf life at the Rogers Public Library may have expired, but Levin said, "It was still the thought that counts."
For Devlin and Woolsey, the experience was fitting for the holiday season.
"The world could use a little more global heartwarming," Woolsey said.
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