50 Years Overdue: E.E. Cummings Book Mailed To Heights Libraries

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH — For more than 50 years, a Heights Library customer unintentionally carried a borrowed copy of an E.E. Cummings poetry collection with them.

Library officials don't know who the customer is because they returned the book anonymously. What they do know about the long-awaited return comes from a note that was wrapped with the book.

The book was stored in a box, likely during a move, and stayed there for half-a-century, the note said. While sorting through the boxes, the book resurfaced and caught the eye of its would-be owner. Holding it to the light, they noticed it had been stamped, "Cleveland Heights Public Library."

"Uh oh!"

"It's been over 50 years since I've lived in Cleveland, so this must have gotten boxed up when we moved," the customer said. "I am so very sorry."

Lucky for them, the Heights Libraries abandoned late fees in 2019 (even if this one might cover a small mortgage). Still, the return wasn't wholly unaccompanied. The book's keeper included a "lucky" $2 bill for whoever opened the package.

This is the second time this summer that a nearly half-century overdue item was returned to the library system. In June, Howard Simon mailed the Heights Libraries a copy of Bob Dylan's "Self-Portrait."

He had checked the record out in 1973. To compensate the libraries for his error, he offered them both a $175 replacement fee (for the damaged record sleeve) and a copy of his own folk music. Both were received with surprised by welcome joy.

"We can't help wondering if [the E.E. Cummings customer] saw the news about the Bob Dylan album, and the fact that we don't charge fines anymore, and decided the time was right to come clean," said Sheryl Banks, a spokesperson for the Heights Libraries.