Borrower returns library ebook 47 years overdue, gives clarification in 'considerate letter'

(NEXSTAR) – A library patron in Minnesota has returned an overdue ebook 47 years after checking it out, claiming to have forgotten all about it after shifting from the world.

Maybe properly, the borrower additionally returned the ebook anonymously, by the mail, thereby avoiding the disapproving glare of any librarians on the entrance desk.

The ebook — “Chilton’s Overseas Automotive Restore Handbook” — was checked out from the Lake Elmo location of the Washington County Library in 1975, the library wrote on Fb. Upon opening the ebook, staffers additionally discovered a letter of clarification and an apology to the employees.

“Within the mid-Nineteen Seventies, I used to be dwelling in [Lake Elmo] and was engaged on an previous Mercedes Benz,” the borrower defined. “I took out this ebook for reference. A number of months later I moved and apparently the ebook acquired packed up within the transfer. Forty-seven years later I discovered it … in a trunk with different fascinating issues from the ‘70s. It’s a bit of overdue however I assumed you may want it again.

“My apologies to anybody in Lake Elm who was engaged on an previous Benz within the final 47 years. I in all probability can’t afford the overdue cost however I’ll ship you adequate for a brand new ebook,” the borrower wrote.

The library confirmed the bundle did certainly include a donation. The borrower, nonetheless, was off the hook for any library charges, because the library not prices any.

“We haven’t had each day fines for overdue supplies for a very long time, however we do nonetheless cost a substitute price if an merchandise is misplaced or broken,” the library stated in response to a Fb consumer who requested in regards to the coverage.

“We’re simply glad to have the ebook again,” learn the Fb submit.