Sacred oversight – Even if the person returned the book half a century late, the English library said it did not foresee any sanctions
A copy of the book Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell was recently returned to the central library of the city of Hull (United Kingdom), fifty years late. This work, borrowed in 1974, was discreetly reported by an anonymous reader at the beginning of the year, as reported by our colleagues at the BBC.
A book that smells “musty”
With this delay of more than half a century, the borrower could have expected a hefty fine, but this is not the case. Penalties for delays were, in fact, removed during the Covid-19 pandemic in order to promote access to reading. “We want there to be as few barriers as possible for patrons using our libraries,” said Library Manager Katie Holdstock. The latter indicated that penalties were in force in 1974, as evidenced by a notice written inside the book.
Unfortunately, after half a century away from the shelves, the work is in too degraded a condition to be borrowed again. And for good reason: it smells musty. “This musty smell is exactly what we find in our library shelves, where we keep old books that are not on our public shelves, in case someone asks for one,” assured the manager.
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