April 20, 2024
Remember when you were charged a nickel a day for that overdue book that you borrowed from the local library? As it turns out, a lot of libraries have converted to fine-free lending.
And that’s a very good thing for one patron of the Licking County Library in Newark, Ohio.
According to a post on the library’s Instagram account, a book of poems was recently returned to the library — about 93 years late. The patron found the “Heart Throbs” collection at a relative’s house and discovered the due date card inside the front cover. It was last stamped “Nov 9 ’31.”
The late-fee penalty back then was 17 cents a day. Thankfully for the patron, the library waived the fee, which otherwise would have been $5,770.