WCAX has a story of a book turned in 51 years late!

Many of us are guilty of returning a book or movie to the library a little late. But what about more than 50 years late?

“Oh it’s exciting,” says Fletcher Free Youth Services Librarian Rebecca Goldberg. “It’s exciting to see something that has been out for a long time.”

That was the case with this book — Ibsen the Master Builder — which was checked out in 1961 and didn’t come back through the doors of the Fletcher Free Library in Burlington until last month. At the current rate — twenty-five cents a day for this book — overdue charges would total more than $1,800. But in reality the actual fine is far, far less.

“The maximum we charge is five dollars for the item — as long as they return the item in a reasonable amount of time,” says co-director and reference librarian Robert Resnik.

Returns like that are rare. But Fletcher Free librarians have dual challenges: keeping the library accessible — while also holding the public accountable for the materials they check out.

Read the rest here.