Back in 1940, when Fairhaven High School student Woodland Drake sneaked a reference book out of the Millicent Library, he could not have foreseen the chain of events he set in motion.
He could not have known, for example, that his well-intentioned theft would lead to a happy, six-decade marriage. Or that the marriage would bring him four beautiful children.
And he most certainly couldn’t have predicted that 70 years in the future, the book, having served its purpose, would be returned to its home by the couple’s librarian son.
That day came last month when Paul Drake, a librarian at the University of Guam, sneaked the book back into Millicent Library and handed it over to director Carolyn Longworth, telling her the story of how his parents met amid the library’s bookshelves.
“He said when (his parents) walked home (that day), his dad opened his coat and took out the book and, at the same time he was saying that, Paul opened his coat and gave me the book,” Longworth said about the surprising return of the text.
She was happy to get the book back, Longworth added, noting that there was no fine for the “unofficial borrowing,” particularly because Drake is a welcome supporter of the library.
Story from Southcoast Today.
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