Book borrowed 150 years ago returns to Australian library, fine tops Rs 18.7 lakh
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Book borrowed 150 years ago returns to Australian library, fine tops Rs 18.7 lakh")
Representative image. Photograph: (Magnific)
The Kiama Library manager, Michelle Hudson, confirmed that the late return fine for the book will cost nearly Rs 18.7 lakh (28,000 Australian dollars), accounting for inflation.
A book borrowed from the public library of Australia approximately 150 years ago has finally been returned. The book named "Antiquities of Athens," published in 1858, was returned last week to the library in the seaside town of Kiama by a man who discovered it during home renovations. The book was inserted into a tea chest bricked into a sealed fireplace.
The Kiama Library manager, Michelle Hudson, confirmed that the late return fine for the book will cost nearly Rs 18.7 lakh (28,000 Australian dollars), accounting for inflation. The fine was determined using the British three-pence-a-week overdue charge printed inside the book's cover, in accordance with the rules in place when the library opened in 1872.
"We've never had anything that old come back to us," Hudson told The Associated Press, and added that libraries she follows on social media typically witness items 30 or 40 years overdue, frequently from estate clean-outs. While the book has since become part of the library's history, there's no way to trace who is actually responsible for the fine, since the library's 1870s borrowing journal, which logged who checked out each book and when, has since been lost.
"Unfortunately, we have a missing link. There's nothing in the book that tells us who the last borrower was," Hudson said.
According to the library's original policies, borrowers were required to return a book and clear any outstanding dues before checking out another. Households were permitted to borrow up to three books, but only if at least six members were "known to be able to read," and books were withheld from anyone who arrived intoxicated. "Maybe that's why they never returned it to us," Hudson said.
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The book, water-damaged over several years near a chimney, was no. 506 in the library's original collection of about 1,000 volumes. Hudson thought that it went missing within a few years of the opening. "We're not going to allow it to go back out again," Hudson said. "We don't want to wait another 150 years for this book to be returned."
