Library manager Michelle Hudson holds the book “Antiquities of Athens”, after its return in Kiama
An Australian public library has received a book that was returned around 150 years overdue, with the “late fee” calculation coming to about A$28,000 (around Rs 16 lakh) under the library’s original rules.The rare copy of “Antiquities of Athens”, published in 1858, was returned to Kiama Library last week after being discovered during home renovations. The book had been hidden inside a tea crate bricked into a sealed fireplace for decades, which also left it damaged by moisture.”We’ve never had anything that old come back to us,” Kiama Library manager Michelle Hudson said.The book was returned by local resident Ross Simmons, who said he found it while renovating a family home. He believes it may have been borrowed by his great-great-grandfather, John Simmons, who lived in the cottage in the 1870s.Kiama Library opened in 1872, and the book was listed as No 506 in its original collection of about 1,000 books. Hudson believes it likely disappeared only a few years after the library began operating.The estimated overdue fine was calculated using the library’s original charge of three pence a week, which was printed inside the book alongside the borrowing rules. However, Hudson said records identifying borrowers from that period have been lost. “Unfortunately, we have a missing link. There’s nothing in the book that tells us who the last borrower was,” she said.Library rules at the time required borrowers to return overdue books and clear outstanding fines before they could borrow another title. “Maybe that’s why they never returned it to us,” Hudson joked.The library’s 19th-century regulations also stated that households with at least six members “known to be able to read” could borrow up to three books at a time. People arriving at the library in a “state of intoxication” were also barred from borrowing books.Ross Simmons said he had no idea why his ancestor, an English immigrant who also served as an alderman in Kiama’s municipal government, never returned the book.The 77-year-old said he was not worried about being held responsible for the century-old overdue fine. “I’ve spent a lifetime dealing with irate customers and being irate with customers himself. Just stick to your guns and say do your worst,” he said.The book will now become part of the library’s local history collection. “We’re not going to allow it to go back out again. We don’t want to wait another 150 years for this book to be returned,” Hudson said.
