Better late than never: Library gets book 47 years overdue

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. � A book nearly five decades overdue has been returned to the San Francisco Public Library.

The copy of Eldridge Cleaver�s memoir �Soul On Ice� was due back at the Eureka Valley branch Dec. 9, 1970, making it 47 years, four months and 29 days late. The library�s late fee would�ve been $1,731.70 if it didn�t cap the fine at $10.01.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported the paperback�s cover is detached from its spine and there�s a hole in the title page.

Branch manager Anne Vannucchi told the Chronicle last week she�d like to know who the library patron is so she can get the story behind the returned book.

A man at another branch last year returned his great-grandmother�s book titled �Forty Minutes Late� � but it was more than 100 years late.

Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com