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Many people have experienced the unpleasant realization that they have an overdue library book — but what if the book is 93 years overdue? Grants Pass resident Kevin O'Malley's mother-in-law, Barbara Geissel, passed away last year. While sorting through her possessions, O'Malley recently happened upon a copy of a "Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush," a book by Scottish author Ian Maclaren published in 1894. When he opened it, he discovered it had been checked out of the Grants Pass Public Library — in 1922. It appeared to have been borrowed in March of that year and never returned. O'Malley figured the book had belonged to Geissel's mother, Alice Smith, who had been living on Mount Sexton with her own mother around that time. The cardholder in the back of the book lists the library's rules, including a rather quirky one: "Two books at a time may be drawn on a card, but only one may be fiction." Another rule states that books could be checked out for two weeks and renewed for another two weeks. But it was a third rule that got O'Malley's attention. It said, "A fine of two cents a day will be imposed for books kept overtime." Uh-oh. He did the math and began keeping a tally, tacking on two cents for each passing day in which the book remained in his possession. By the time he finally met with Josephine Community Libraries Executive Director Kate Lasky Wednesday, he calculated that he owed $683.74 on the overdue book. On his way to meet with Lasky to settle the debt, he stopped by the Daily Courier with the book. With a straight face, he explained that he couldn't in good conscience go on without returning it. After all, he has to set an example for his 1-year-old grandson, who lives in Texas. "I don't want him to grow up with an emotional scar because his great, great grandmother was a book thief," O'Malley said with a twinkle in his eye. He met with Lasky later that day and offered to settle the matter by returning the book and making a $100 donation to the library. Lasky accepted. "It was fantastic," Lasky said with a laugh. "It was a surprise. All of the staff gathered around when he gave the book back. And, it was in great condition." There was the question of whether the book was actually overdue or whether the library had sold it at some point. Lasky consulted her staff about that. "I checked with our technical services manager, and because the card was still in it, it was definitely an overdue book," she said. Lasky said the book was housed at the city's old Carnegie library, which operated out of a space adjacent to the Josephine County Courthouse that later became the city jail. She said the Grants Pass Public Library system, a precursor to Josephine Community Libraries, was created 100 years ago, in 1915. The Carnegie library opened in January 1919. Lasky was tickled that O'Malley felt compelled to "clear his family name." "How many people do you know who would clear a fine after 93 years?" she said. Lasky added that she's not sure what she'll do with the book, but it might be sold on eBay to raise money for the library system, which has operated as a private nonprofit organization since 2008. Josephine County commissioners in May 2007 cut off funding for public libraries and transferred the money to other county departments, including the Sheriff's Office. A group of citizens formed JCL and reopened the Grants Pass branch library in December 2008. Branches in Cave Junction, Williams and Wolf Creek were reopened in 2009. JCL continues to operate the four libraries on a combination of donations, grants and volunteer labor.