A Long Journey! Book On Tomatoes That Was Due In 1974 Returned To Scottish Library In 2023

We all have had experiences holding onto that one book that we knew was due back at the library years ago but was never returned. Seeing as libraries are rather used to people taking off with their books, some librarians were astonished when an overdue book was finally returned after nearly half a century, and it was still in impeccable condition.

Why was the book returned to the library after 50 years?

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The instructional manual, titled 'Tomatoes for Everyone' authored by Frank W. Allerton, was borrowed on January 21, 1974. Bearing the stamp of the former Orkney County Library, this book offers advice on cultivating tomatoes and has been borrowed a total of eight times previously, with the earliest loan dating back to 1969.

As per the Orkney Library, the oldest public library in Scotland, the book was returned in excellent condition on Friday. It had been stored in a box that had been moved between houses multiple times.

Similar versions of the book are currently being sold on Amazon for 79 pounds, making this particular copy quite valuable.

How Much Was The Late Fee?

Luckily for the reader, the library doesn't impose overdue fees, so they were able to steer clear of accumulating a substantial penalty. In a tweet, the library wrote, “We've just had a library book returned that was due back in 1974 how's your day going?”

They continued, “We don't issue overdue fees so the fine on this was exactly ?0.00. But if we charged just 1p per day the fine on this would have been *checks calculations* ?181.55. When it first became overdue Ted Heath was the Prime Minister of the UK. Richard Nixon was the US President.”

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