Library user returns book after 43 years avoiding 8p fine as it 'looks like new'
A library user has returned a book after 43 years - avoiding an 8p fine because it was in such good condition.
'Back to Basics' by the editors of Flying magazine, was booked out on 25 July, 1979.
It was anonymously dropped into a donation box this month.
It was returned to Hopewell Public Library in New Jersey, US.
A library spokesperson said: "Looks like they dodged the 10 cent (8p) fee since they managed to keep the card intact.
"And looking like new."
Manager Andrea Merrick said: "We were kind of surprised because it was so old.
"We all just kind of thought it was really neat."
However, the library's records do not stretch back to 1979 to identify the user who checked out the book.
Librarians said the overdue book would have amassed over £1,285 ($1,600) in fines at the current rate of 10 cents per day.
Last month, a book was returned to Montague Center Public Library in Massachusetts 56 years overdue.
'The Mystery of the Green Ghost', the fourth entry in the Alfred Hitchcock Mysteries series, was booked out back in 1967.
The reader returned the book with a note explaining that they "felt bad all these years" and hoped librarians would "accept this book with deepest apologies".
A spokesperson said the book was not in a suitable condition to go back into circulation, but librarians would keep it safe along with the customer's apology note.
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