Partner Article

74 year overdue library book returned

A 95-year-old American woman has returned a library book 74 years after her husband borrowed it and faced a late return fine of $2,700 (£1,700).

Sacramento resident Hazel Severson (right) recently returned the book that had been checked out from the library for 74 years.

Hazel Severson, 95, of Sacramento says a friend found a book that Mrs Severson’s late husband had borrowed from an Amador County library in 1936 while sorting through things for a garage sale.

Mrs Severson told The Sacramento Bee newspaper that she and her husband Howard were newly-weds back when he checked out the hardback, Seaplane Solo, about Sir Francis Chichester’s 1930 solo flight across the Tasman Sea.

Luckily for Mrs Severson, the library did not charge her the fee, though it did accept a small donation when she finally returned the book on Oct. 13.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .