Ohio librarian found a kid's hidden note along with a $10 bill inside an overdue book

The Columbus Metropolitan Library (@columbuslibrary on Threads) in Ohio received an overdue book with a handwritten note and a $10 bill stuffed inside it on Tuesday, January 6. A little girl named Lily had reportedly left it for the staff, apologizing for returning the book, "Practical Rules for Cursed Witches," late. The avid reader's honesty clearly moved the staff, as they immediately decided to call Lily's father and waive the overdue charges on the book.

Lily confessed she was returning the book a day after learning it was overdue. She said she was too ambitious when she issued eleven books from the library, but couldn't finish reading them on time. Although she took more time than she thought she would, Lily had almost read the books, with only two left to complete. "Thank you and sorry if anyone wanted it," the little girl added. But wait! That's not all; Lily has added $10 cash to the letter and explained it's for the "troubles" she caused by returning the book late. Her honesty even impressed the author of "Practical Rules for Cursed Witches," Kayla Cottingham. The Ohio library's heartfelt post reached the author, who, in response, introduced herself and said she would be happy to send a signed copy of her book and the sequel to the library or Lily, the passionate little reader.

The library staff was in shock, especially to see such a young girl make a purposeful attempt to own up to her mistake and rectify it. Lily realized that she'd done wrong by keeping the book longer than she'd promised and immediately apologized for it. "Lily's generosity touched our staff," Brandon Thomas, branch manager, Columbus Metropolitan Library, told Newsweek. Overwhelmed by the letter, a staff member called Lily's dad to inform him that the Columbus Metropolitan Library doesn't charge overdue fees to encourage reading. In fact, they also invited Lily to the library to collect her money. The little girl came back the very same day and had all the staff members congratulate her on her reading efforts. "With all the activities and distractions available in the world, we love to see kiddos like Lily devouring books," Sarah Wright, Young Minds Program Leader at Columbus Metropolitan Library, explained.

We're so heavily dependent on digital stimuli that reading feels boring. In fact, Americans, especially teenagers, are so repulsed by reading that the high schools assign them only one or two books per year to read from beginning to end, according to an informal reader survey by The New York Times. More than 2,000 people responded, and many teachers among them blamed the technology, saying it has significantly affected students' stamina for reading and interest in books. Another survey by Scholastic found that reading habits in kids are declining as they grow older. They found that 46% of children between 6 and 8 years old read frequently, but the percentage drops to 32% for 9- to 11-year-olds, 21% for 12- to 14-year-olds, and as low as 15% for 15- to 17-year-olds. Moreover, the survey revealed that 50% of school-aged kids love reading for fun, but as they get older, they give little to no importance to books. 

People were in awe reading the story, and couldn't stop praising the little girl's honesty; for instance, @mychal3ts commented, "An honest library kid and a caring local library. I love everyone's role in this, Lily and Columbus Library! This is library joy!" Similarly, @aquestioninghuman said, "This is so cute! I don’t know how old she is, but I feel you can tell from the way she writes that she’s a reader. Kids finding joy in books also gives ME joy." @queen_napsalot wrote, "You know, if everyone in the world went around with a 'here's $10 for troubles' mindset, the world would be a nicer place, I bet."

You can follow Columbus Library (@columbuslibrary) on Threads for more updates on the library. 

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