MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) 鈥� A book on Greek antiquities has been returned to an public library about 150 years late, with water damage from years bricked into a fireplace.
The book was returned to the library in the seaside town of last week by a local Ross Simmons who had found it during recent home renovations inside a tea crate bricked into a sealed fireplace, Kiama Library manager Michelle Hudson said.
鈥淲e鈥檝e never had anything that old come back to us,鈥� Hudson said Thursday.
鈥淚 follow lots of libraries on social media and often you鈥檒l get things that are maybe 30 or 40 years old when they鈥檙e cleaning out estates and stuff like that,鈥� she added.
Ross Simmons, told The Associated Press on Friday he assumed the book was borrowed by his great-great-grandfather John Simmons, who had owned the house where it was found.
鈥淚’m making an assumption. He was in residence in the cottage around about that time and his children were probably too young,鈥� Ross Simmons said.
The library opened in 1872, and the book, 鈥淎ntiquities of Athens,鈥� published in 1858, was marked as No. 506 in the library鈥檚 original collection of around 1,000 books. Hudson suspects the book was lost within a few years of the library opening.
The late return fine would be around 28,000 Australian dollars ($19,500), allowing for inflation, Hudson said. That was calculated on the British three pence-a-week overdue fee that was printed on the inside cover of the book, along with a list of rules that applied when the library opened.
But Hudson said the library’s records of borrowers in the 1870s had been lost. 鈥淯nfortunately, we have a missing link. There鈥檚 nothing in the book that tells us who the last borrower was,鈥� Hudson said.
Library rules in the 1870s stated that a book had to be returned and an overdue debt paid before another book could be borrowed. 鈥淢aybe that鈥檚 why they never returned it to us,鈥� Hudson said.
Antiquated rules of the day included that up to three books could be borrowed by households in which at least six members were 鈥渒nown to be able to read.鈥� Proof of reading ability is no longer required to use today鈥檚 library.
In the 1870s, books were not lent to people who arrived at the library in a 鈥渟tate of intoxication.鈥� Library users are now asked to leave if their behavior impacts others, but the rules are not specific about intoxication.
Ross Simmons said he had no idea why his English immigrant ancestor, who had also served as an alderman in Kiama’s municipal government, would not have returned the book.
He said he hadn’t been concerned by the prosect of being held liable by an angry librarian for his family’s debt.
鈥淚’ve spent a lifetime dealing with irate customers and being irate with customers himself. Just stick to your guns and say do your worst,鈥� the 77-year-old said.
The returned book will be displayed in the library鈥檚 local history collection.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to allow it to go back out again. We don鈥檛 want to wait another 150 years for this book to be returned,鈥� Hudson said.
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