RICHLAND, Wash. — Quite the late fee! A man recently returned a book to the Richland Public Library that was originally checked out in 1962.
The Richland Public Library says the man inherited a personal library from a friend and among the copies was a biography of Henry Ford titled, “Ford: The Times, The Man, The Company” published in 1954.
The library says the original due date was March 17, 1962 which makes the book late by almost 64 years.
According to the library, the average late fee in the 1960s was approximately 1-3 cents. Late fees rose to 5 cents in the 70s, 10 cents in 80s and 25 cents in the early 2000s.
The library says the total late fee would be in the thousands of dollars, but late fees had a cap and were waived by the city council in 2022.
Richland Library adds the man has another late book but will read it first before returning.
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