A woman has returned a book to a library 67 years after taking it out on loan – and escaped more than £11,000 in fines.
Incredulous librarians in Auckland, New Zealand, were presented with the tome Myths and Legends of Maoriland by AW Reed on Thursday.
Its most “recent” stamp revealed it had last been taken out on December 17 1948.
Librarian Zoe Cornelius told the Guardian: “[The woman who returned it] told me she had checked out the book as a child and been meaning to return it for years.
“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 faced no fines because children are not eligible for the penalty at the library, she added.
Had she been an adult when she took out the book the overdue fines at today’s rate of NZ$1 a day would have amounted to more than NZ$24,000, or nearly £12,000.
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