70-year-old returns library book after 56 years; internet calls her 'slow reader'

In an era when almost every book across the globe is available online in PDF format, libraries are losing their prominence. It’s pretty rare nowadays that people go to a library in search of their favourite books. But there was a time when bookworms had no other option. Hence, they had to depend on offline copies. When a person borrows a book from any library, he or she is required to take care of a number of things. Among them, the foremost responsibility must be maintaining the deadline to return it. Though it’s common to forget the date, have you ever heard of a reader returning to a library after more than 50 years? Something similar happened in England’s North Tyneside where a 70-year-old woman named Lesley Harrison returned her overdue book to the Killingworth Library after as many as 56 years. Harrison borrowed a German language textbook called ‘Ich Lerne Deutsch’ in 1966 when she was just 14 years old. The Killingworth library declared in November 2022 that all overdue fines on borrowed books would be eliminated. The effort made by the library was intended to encourage more membership. It also announced a contest for the book that was overdue the most, gift vouchers for the winners, and recreation facilities administered by the North Tyneside Council. After learning about the announcement, Harrison decided to return the book which needed to give back in 21 days. She revealed to the library that as a teenager she could not afford the late fine. Thus, she chose to keep the book after moving out of her parents’ house. Harrison explained, “It remained in the drawer. We travelled a lot, and I always took it with me. I’m sure I have an old book sitting around somewhere, I thought as soon as I learned about the amnesty. When I brought it in, the library staff was both astonished and amused. However, it’s still in good shape. I do maintain the condition of my books.” The North Tyneside Council broke the news on their official Facebook while sharing a photo of Harrison posing with the book. The caption of the post read, “A library book 56 years overdue has finally been returned. Staff at Killingworth Library were amazed when Lesley Harrison, of Shiremoor, brought in the German language textbook that she borrowed in April 1966, aged 14. Somehow a 21-day loan turned into 20,656 days, and Lesley returned it after we set a competition to find the most overdue book in the borough.”

Since being dropped on the internet, the post has garnered hundreds of likes on the Meta-owned platform. In the comment section, a person joked, “She is just a slow reader, nothing wrong with that.” Another user noted, “I bet she felt good to return it.”