Overdue Book

Overdue books are a recurring item throughout the Commonwealth in Fallout 4.

When a book is returned to one of the special terminals, the player character receives five book return tokens. The tokens can then be exchanged for a variety of prizes. The most notable of them is a copy of the Massachusetts Surgical Journal from a terminal in Boston Public Library.

Locations

 * Can rarely be found as random loot in containers.
 * Merchants sometimes have them for sale.
 * ArcJet Systems - Two total, with one found during the quest Call to Arms on a large table in the meeting room behind a closed door of the hallway where you encounter three ceiling turrets, and a second to the northwest in Bethany's shack.
 * Back Street Apparel - At the top near the ladder to the Fens inside of a large toolbox.
 * Beacon Hill apartments - On the top floor, in the room with an exit to the roof.
 * Boston mayoral shelter - In the kid's room just east of the mayor's bedroom.
 * Boston Public Library - Nine total, with three outside the building to the southeast across the street inside a Pulowski Preservation shelter, three in the computer room in the northwest corner of the building on the ground at the foot of two sleeping bags, one in the reading room on the north side of the building on a shelf west of a Novice-locked terminal, one in the reading room on the east side of the building on a table next to a broken terminal near the door to the south, and one in the women's restroom on the east side of the building in a stall.
 * Collegiate administration building - Two at the front desk, a third is underneath the stairs next to a skeleton, and a fourth is on the floor of the second story by the hole covered with two planks.
 * Covenant - In a toilet behind the house with Penny Fitzgerald's store and Dr. Patricia's clinic.
 * D.B. Technical High School - Five total, with one on the ground floor between two damaged computers in the room with the overdue book return, a second is on the second floor on a short bookshelf near a large water lily painting in an area near a restroom above the cafeteria, the third is in the chemistry lab on the second floor under a picture of a farm, and the fourth is on the second floor on a table lit by a nearby steel drum fire. There is a fifth outside in front of the building in a Pulowski Preservation shelter.
 * The Dig - One can be found during the quest The Big Dig. After the Sole Survivor has sprung Mel out of jail and reconvened at the dig site, check the seats of the subway cars parked at the platform.
 * East Boston Preparatory School - One is in a locker in the hallway on the first floor, a second and third can be found in the toilet and urinal on the second floor, a fourth is on a student's desk in the classroom next to the science lab on the second floor, a fourth and fifth are in the second-floor music room on a student's desk and a teacher's desk, and a seventh is on a student's desk in the adjacent classroom. According to the official guide, there are two more for a total of nine.
 * Faded Glory laundromat - In Lexington, one is on the table at the northern entrance.
 * Faneuil Hall - One in the main hall on a chair against the north wall (appears east if entering while wearing power armor, which causes a bug with the compass).
 * Goodneighbor - One given by Daisy of Daisy's Discounts by asking for work and clearing the Super Mutants in the Boston Public Library for her.
 * Greenetech Genetics - One is on the fifth floor on a small table between two chairs before heading up to the sixth floor.
 * Hangman's Alley - Two in the subway station to the west.
 * Harbormaster Hotel - One in Room 61 on top of a seated skeleton's lap.
 * Hoarder's apartment - Four in the center of the room.
 * Kendall Hospital - One is on a shelf by a hole in the wall to the northwest of the large fire, and a second is on the lower levels on a shelf in a room with a bed and two desks.
 * Lexington apartments - One is on the top floor with two raiders.
 * Mass Fusion building - One is on the seemingly unreachable section of the fourth floor and can be reached by dropping down from the floor above, and a second is on a desk on the reactor level.
 * Mass Pike Interchange - One in a trader's shack to the north.
 * Massachusetts State House - One is leaning against the side of a desk with a terminal on it, in a room with a partially collapsed ceiling and a mattress west of the hall with two lion statues.
 * Milton General Hospital - one is on the ground floor on a small table near the reception desk.
 * Museum of Witchcraft - one is on the ground next to a skeleton sitting at a school desk facing the corner.
 * Natick Police Department - One is in an open cell, a second is in a trash can on the top floor of an office, and a third is in the windows of the book store just south of the police station.
 * Park Street station - One is in the first room on the double bench on the far wall, opposite the entryway where the escalator out to the Commonwealth is.
 * Parkview Apartments - One is on the first floor in a small bathroom under a skeleton inside of a bathtub.
 * Parsons State Insane Asylum - Three books are in the basement. One is in the room with the elevator from the asylum section, inside an open filing cabinet on the west side. One is in the control room, inside an open filing cabinet in the northeast corner. One is in the control room, inside a loose filing cabinet drawer above and to the left of the second book.
 * Plumber's Secret - One can be found inside.
 * Institute's public works maintenance area during The Nuclear Option (Minutemen), one is in a schoolroom.
 * Quincy Police Station - One in lockup in the basement on the floor of the middle cell. There is also a book return terminal on the first floor.
 * Ranger cabin - One is in a trader's shack to the west. This one is marked as “owned” so it will be considered stolen, angering Preston, Codsworth, and others.
 * Sandy Coves Convalescent Home - One is in Margaret's room (the room with potted plants) on top of the toilet, and three can be found in Edward’s room (the room with the typewriter) on the dresser, by the skeleton on the bed, and by the foot of the bed.
 * Saugus Ironworks - One is in the southwest corner of the ground floor behind a skeleton inside a toppled smelting pot.
 * The Shamrock Taphouse - On the docks behind it, one on the floor of Donny Kowalski's room.
 * The Third Rail - At the bottom of the stairs in a cardboard box.
 * Shaw High School - One is upstairs on a desk on the east side of the school, a second is upstairs on a desk on the west side, a third is on the floor near a locker near a mine, a fourth is on a toilet in the last stall of the bathroom next to the cafeteria, a fifth is in the main section of the library on an overturned bookcase to the left of the book return terminal, and three more are in the room where Unstoppables issue #1 is.
 * Suffolk County Charter School - Five total, with one behind an Expert-locked door on the second floor (beware of a glowing radroach), a second is on the counter outside the principal's office next to a broken terminal, a third is behind a large Novice locked door in the kitchen area, a fourth is on the floor of the library on the second floor next to a dead body in a pink dress, and a fifth is in the basement behind an Expert terminal-secured door.
 * Ticker Tape Lounge - One behind the ramp next to a skeleton in a yellow dress.
 * Trinity Church - One down the stairs behind the lectern at the east end of the main chapel hall, a second is on the bottom floor on the table, a third is on a shelf of a bookcase on the west side of the bottom floor, and a fourth is on a table on the bottom floor.
 * Trinity Plaza - Three in the Pulowski Preservation shelters at the south end.
 * USAF Satellite Station Olivia - One is resting on a cabinet in the middle of a small room across from a partially collapsed wall section of the larger two-story room with scaffolding, near the raider Ack-Ack.
 * Walden Pond - One is beneath the counter in the gift shop.
 * Fort Hagen hangar - One in a medical room on a bed (first door on the right of the room with the tanks).
 * Harbor Grand Hotel - One beneath the picnic table which has crashed through the stairs leading to the pier, southeast of the map marker.
 * Ruined church - One is at the top of the tower beneath the hand of the skeleton.
 * Vim! Pop factory - One is in Vim! Corporate Headquarters on the large table to the west in the room upstairs.
 * Waves Crest Orphanage - One is under the bed upstairs.
 * Two can be found at an unmarked trapper shack southeast of Acadia, on a table.
 * Nuka-World power plant - One is in the basement in a locker, near a skeleton on a comfy pillow.
 * Vault 88 - One is in the small trailer in the main cavern near the displayed Vault 88 construction map.