Book returned to Washington library after 81 years
Published in Weird News
(UPI) Staff at a Washington library were in for a surprise when a book returned to the facility turned out to be 81 years overdue.
The Timberland Regional Library said librarians at the Aberdeen Timberland Library received a copy of The Bounty Trilogy by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall this week and the card inside the cover revealed it had been due back March 30, 1942.
The person who returned the book explained it had recently been found in a family storage unit.
Librarians were amused to learn the patron who checked the book out had written a review on the inside cover: "I wouldn't read this book if I was paid to."
Library officials calculated the book would have accrued $484 in late fees under the 1942 rate of 2 cents per day, excluding Sundays and holidays. However, the library did away with late fees during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The moral of this story? If you have an overdue book collecting dust -- return it to the library. We'll take it back, and the bounty will be considered paid," the library said in a Facebook post.
Copyright 2023 by United Press International
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