A record-setting fine
The Guinness World Record-holder for the highest library book fine ever paid is Emily Canellos-Simms—and she didn’t even borrow the book! In 2002, she found a copy of Days and Deeds in her mother’s house. This book of children’s poems was originally due on April 15, 1955—47 years earlier. Canellos-Simms gave the Kewanee, Illinois public library a check for over $345!
The most presidential
Commanders-in-Chief, they’re just like us. Shortly into his first presidential term, George Washington borrowed The Law of Nations from the New York Society Library—and didn’t return it for the rest of his life! In 2010, the head librarian joked that, though they were “not actively pursuing the overdue fines,” they would appreciate having it back. And about a month later, the Mount Vernon estate did return the book—221 years overdue! Here are the presidential libraries every history buff should visit.
The loan outlasted the library
One book was returned so late, the library didn’t exist anymore! A copy of Master of Men by E. Phillips Oppenheim was missing from England’s Leicester County Library for 79 years. It finally turned up in a house in the area—but the library branch had been shut down, so the book just became the property of the County Council.
