Chip Chick
Boise, Idaho. In a recent post from the Boise Public Library Facebook page, book lovers got a glimpse into an incredible story lost in time.
A book titled New Chronicles of Rebecca was initially checked out from Boise’s Carnegie Public Library in 1911.
Kate Douglass Wiggin the sequel to the beloved children’s book Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.
The book was returned to Garden Valley District Library sometime in October or November, then eventually sent back to the more extensive Boise public library.
Unfortunately, the book’s original home in the city had closed its doors to the public.
The Boise library calculated the incurred late fees on the book at a rate of two cents per day. So, 111 years after its initial due date, the person who checked it out would now owe the library $803!
Of course, the Facebook post played along with the absurdism of it all, saying, “thank goodness the Boise Public Libraries are now fine free!”
Facebook; pictured above is the overdue book
The Boise library in question would not have charged borrowers more than the price of the original book in late fees, and many libraries today have done away with late fees altogether.
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