Long Overdue

The New York Society Library has lots of books that haven't been returned by their due date; and, a couple checked out by President George Washington, nearly 221 years ago, are among them.

"The city's oldest library isn't asking for the American government to pay any late fees," says head librarian Mark Bartlett. Still, they wouldn't mind getting the books back. One is Law of Nations while the other is a volume of debates from Britain's House of Commons. The entry recording the loan, dated Nov. 2, 1789, simply states the borrower as "George Washington, President."