Librabry book returned 78 years late
Published: June 18, 2005
A Brentwood man will not be fined for a library book that was due when Calvin Coolidge was president, the Oakland Public Library announced Friday.
The book, “Kim” by Rudyard Kipling, was due back to the Melrose Branch of the Oakland Public Library on Aug. 29, 1927, according to library spokeswoman Kathleen Hirooka.
Jim Pavan discovered the book when he went through some old boxes belonging to his mother, according to Hirooka. Pavan believed that his aunt originally checked out the book before lending it to Pavan’s mother to read.
The overdue fines in 1927 were 2 cents per day but would have topped off at $5, Hirooka said. Adjusted for inflation, the fine today would be $52.31.
The book is not the longest-overdue returned book in Oakland’s history. That record goes to a copy of “Ghetto Comedies” by Israel Zangwill, which was returned in 1995, 88 years after it was due. A local contractor discovered the book in a house where he was working, Hirooka reported.
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