{"id":5280,"date":"2026-10-20T11:05:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T11:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/20\/library-gets-book-back-after-43-year-wait\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T11:05:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T11:05:17","slug":"library-gets-book-back-after-43-year-wait","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/20\/library-gets-book-back-after-43-year-wait\/","title":{"rendered":"Library gets book back after 43 year wait"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>2026-10-20 11:05:15<\/b><br \/>\n<BR>A library has welcomed back a book that spent more than four decades on the missing list after it was finally returned 43 years overdue.<BR><br \/>\nWorkers at the Greater Victoria Public Library in British Columbia discovered the dusty copy of Herman Wouk&#8217;s 1978 novel War and Remembrance earlier this month while processing returns.<BR><br \/>\nThe battered book immediately stood out, with a cracked spine, no barcode and a paper checkout card still tucked inside.<BR><br \/>\nThat card revealed it was supposed to have been returned to the Oak Bay branch on September 1, 1983.<BR><br \/>\nThe library wrote on Instagram: &#8220;This book was due back in 1983 and has just been returned, a remarkable 43 years later! It may well be one of the most overdue items we&#8217;ve ever had returned.&#8221;<BR><br \/>\nThere was no note explaining where the book had been for all those years, leaving librarians unable to identify the mystery borrower.<BR><br \/>\nBorrowing records are regularly purged, meaning the library has no way of tracking down the person responsible.<BR><br \/>\nDelia Filipescu, the library&#8217;s coordinator of branch operations, said: &#8220;We&#8217;re very happy that someone had the courage or conscience to bring it back.&#8221;<BR><br \/>\nThe return could have resulted in a hefty bill under the library&#8217;s old late-fee system.<BR><br \/>\nFilipescu estimated the borrower would have faced around $3,100 in fines, based on a charge of 20 cents per day.<BR><br \/>\nBut there will be no demand for payment. The library has no intention of pursuing the long-overdue fees.<BR><br \/>\nInstead, staff appear simply delighted to have the wandering tome back where it belongs.<BR><br \/>\nThe library reminded anyone who has discovered a long-lost book at home that they can return it to any branch, with no questions asked.<BR><br \/>\nIts Instagram post read: &#8220;If you&#8217;ve discovered a long-lost library book at home, a friendly reminder that you can return library materials at any branch, any day, any time. No judgment, just happy reunions.&#8221;<BR><br \/>\nDespite the impressive delay, the book does not hold the library&#8217;s record for the longest overdue return.<BR><br \/>\nThat honour belongs to a copy of Stephen Leacock&#8217;s Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, borrowed in 1916 and finally returned in 1998, a staggering 82 years later.<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"> Visit Bang Bizarre (main website) <\/a><br \/>\n<br \/><script src=\"https:\/\/geo.dailymotion.com\/player\/xtbac.js\" data-video=\"\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2026-10-20 11:05:15 A library has welcomed back a book that spent more than four decades on the missing list after it was finally returned 43 years overdue. Workers at the&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3441,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bizarre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5280"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5280\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5281,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5280\/revisions\/5281"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}