About 30 years ago, an Australian family was renovating their home. Inside the fireplace, they found an old sealed tea crate. Inside was a book called The Antiquities of Athens.
The book sat untouched for decades. Recently, Ross Simmons, 77, looked through it and saw the words "Kiama Public Library" stamped inside. He realized someone had borrowed the book long ago and never returned it — about 150 years ago.
Simmons brought the book to the library in Kiama, a small town in New South Wales. He showed it to Michelle Hudson, the library's manager. "He was returning it to its rightful place," Hudson says.
The library first opened in 1872. The Antiquities of Athens was the 506th book added to its collection. Staff don't know exactly when it was checked out, but they think it happened sometime in the 1870s.
The library's old rules were printed inside the book. Borrowers had one month to return a book, or pay 3 pence for every extra week late. Adjusted for today's money, 150 years of late fees would add up to about 28,000 Australian dollars — nearly $20,000.
Simmons thinks the book may have belonged to his relative, John Simmons, an architect who moved to Australia in 1857. The book is about classical Greek architecture, which fits his guess.
Apart from some water damage, the book is in "remarkably good condition." Even so, no one will be allowed to borrow it again. As Hudson says, "We don't want to wait another 150 years for it to come back." Instead, it will join the library's local history collection.
Kiama Library no longer charges late fees at all. If someone has an overdue book, they must return it before borrowing anything new. The library adds, "We will suspend your borrowing privileges if an item is not returned — for 150 years if necessary."