This overdue library book was finally returned — 100 YEARS LATER?!
How long have you gone before returning a library book? Even the most forgetful of folks will find themselves scrambling to return a book after a few weeks or, in worst cases, months.
But a San Francisco library has just gotten back an overdue library book after 100 years.
The best part is that the original branch from where the book was checked out is no longer around.
Webb Johnson returned a copy of Forty Minutes Late (lol at the appropriate title), a short story collection that had been checked out by his great-grandmother back in 1917. Why did it take so long to return?
Book turned in 100 YEARS late to @SFPublicLibrary. (This makes us feel better about our OWN overdues!) https://t.co/5hXNdaSzlP
— LibraryReads (@LibraryReads99) January 14, 2017
The branch that she checked it out from had closed following her death, which was one week before the book had been due.
The book was returned during the library’s amnesty program, which allows for library members to return overdue books without paying a fine. If this book hadn’t been returned during the amnesty program, the fine would have reached a stunning $3,500.
(The Guinness Book of World Records currently lists Emily Canellos-Simms’ 47-year-long overdue stretch to have been the largest overdue library book fine paid at $345.14).
There have been other instances of century-old books being returned to the libraries that they were borrowed from, but we’re just glad that these books have finally made their way home.
