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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Sarah Shaffi

Long story: book returned to California library nearly a century late

A History of the United States by Benson Lossing, returned to St Helena Public Library in California 96 years overdue.
Long-term loan … A History of the United States by Benson Lossing, returned to St Helena Public Library in California 96 years overdue. Photograph: St Helena Public Library

A history book about the US has been returned to a library in California, almost 100 years overdue. The copy of Benson Lossing’s A History of the United States, published in 1881, was returned to St Helena public library in Napa Valley earlier this month. It had been due back on 21 February 1927.

At the time the book was borrowed, fines for overdue titles were a nickel (five cents) a day, meaning Jim Perry, who had the book, theoretically owed about $1,756 (£1,417). Luckily for him, the library scrapped late fines in 2019.

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