Book Returned to Library 27 Years Past Due Date

It's easy to hang on to a library book for a few extra days, maybe even a week past its due date. But one reader returned their copy of The Perennial Philosophy to Canada's Hamilton Public Library 27 years after it was borrowed.

"Look what #TeamHPL found in one of our drop boxes recently!" a tweet from the library read. "HPL originally had this book on its shelves in 1980, and was last checked out on December 13, 1993. A new edition was printed in 2009. Welcome back home, lost one!"

Lisa Radha Weaver, the library's director of collections and program development, told CBC she wasn't sure where the book has been when it was off of the shelves.

"We do know that our books go on a lot of adventures in our city, our country, around the world," she said. "We hope the book has had a few great few decades away from the Hamilton Public Library."

CBC reported more than 7,000 library items are considered lost, but that number represents less than 1 percent of the collection. Items marked lost before December 2018 are deleted from the system.

Library spokesperson Melanie Cummings told CBC that the DVD collection has the most missing items.

Although it may take some time for some library materials to find their way back to the shelves, the library will welcome them back with open arms.

"We know sometimes overdues happen because of the monsters under the bed or because everything can fall to the bottom of a knapsack," Weaver told CBC. "Our members are more important to us than...the overdues and losts that might happen occasionally."

The individual who dropped off The Perennial Philosophy also managed to dodge 27 years of late fees because the library opted to eliminate fines in April of this year.

CBC previously reported that Weaver said charging fines requires a great deal of manual work.

"There's the transaction, the accounting, the reporting of that transaction...When we looked at that, we actually figured out there was no actual real benefit to the library and no benefit to the membership," she said.

Now, Weaver said the staff told her library patrons feel more comfortable using the library and aren't worried about returning overdue materials.

As for the fate of the long-lost copy of The Perennial Philosophy, Weaver told CBC that its future is unknown. Depending on the book's condition, it may end up recycled.

Newsweek has reached out to the Hamilton Public Library but did not hear back by press time.