A library book due in 1983 comes back to Victoria, B.C., with no note
A small, charming local story: the old check-out card, the $3,100 fine nobody will collect, and an 82-year record it didn't beat.
A dusty copy of Herman Wouk's 1978 novel War and Remembrance, due back at the Greater Victoria Public Library's Oak Bay branch on Sept. 1, 1983, came through the return chute in October with no note, the Times Colonist reports. Borrower records are purged for privacy, so no one knows who had it.
"We're very happy that someone had the courage or conscience to bring it back," said Delia Filipescu, the library's coordinator of branch operations. At the old 20-cents-a-day rate the fine would have topped $3,100, but the library dropped fines in 2024 and, she said, recovery of books has gone up since. The library's record is 82 years, for a book borrowed in 1916 and returned in 1998.