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Borrower returns library book 67 years late – but escapes $24,000 fine

This article is more than 6 years old

Woman checked out Myths and Legends of Maoriland from Auckland library in 1948 and had been ‘meaning to return it for years’

Myths and Legends of Maoriland, by A W Reed, has been returned to a New Zealand library 67 years after it was checked out.
Myths and Legends of Maoriland, by AW Reed, has been returned to a New Zealand library 67 years after it was checked out. Photograph: Auckland library
Myths and Legends of Maoriland, by AW Reed, has been returned to a New Zealand library 67 years after it was checked out. Photograph: Auckland library

A woman has brought back a book to a New Zealand library 67 years after it was due to be returned.

Myths and Legends of Maoriland by AW Reed was checked out by a girl in 1948 and not seen again. But on Thursday a woman returned the book to a startled librarian at Auckland library and asked how much her late fines would be for returning the book 24,605 days past its due date.

“She told me she had checked out the book as a child and been meaning to return it for years,” said librarian Zoe Cornelius.

“She seemed a bit embarrassed but I was pleased because she said she had read and enjoyed the book many times over the decades and that made me happy – that the book had been in a good home and loved.”

The woman would not incur any late fees, said Cornelius, as she was a child when the book was checked out and children were not charged late fines at the library.

An original checkout slip on the back of the book states that fines for overdue books would be charged at three pence for the first week, and one penny a day for every day following.

If the borrower had been an adult her overdue fines at today’s rates of NZ$1 a day would have amounted to NZ$24,605 (£11,700, or US$17,000).

Auckland library holds three copies of Myths and Legends of Maoriland, none of which are allowed to leave the library.

Auckland library said the reader would not be charged a fine as she was a child when she borrowed the book in 1948.
Auckland library said the reader would not be charged a fine as she was a child when she borrowed the book in 1948. Photograph: Auckland library

The book is currently being examined to determine its condition, but the special collections division at Auckland library said it did not think the book had any monetary value. Myths and Legends of Maoriland was a popular read in its day, and there are still copies for sale online for around NZ$20.

Cornelius said it was likely the returned book would end up in the library’s special collections section.

The library said it had fielded a number of enquiries since the story became public from borrowers wondering if they too could return very late books without having to pay a fine.

In this instance, the woman did not leave her name and Auckland library said it had no way to trace her, as library records from the 1940s no longer exist.

The borrower told Cornelius she lives outside of Auckland but was in town to visit family – and return a book.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/29/borrower-returns-library-book-67-years-late-fine
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