Never Too Late to Return Books

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Overdue_Book.html

Sunday, January 7, 2007 · Last updated 7:12 a.m. PT

Library book returned _ 47 years overdue

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

HANCOCK, Mich. — Robert Nuranen handed
the local librarian a book he’d checked out for a ninth-grade
assignment – along with a check for 47 years’ worth of late fees.

Nuranen
said his mother misplaced the copy of "Prince of Egypt" while cleaning
the house. The family came across it every so often, only to set it
aside again. He found it last week while looking through a box in the
attic.

"I figured I’d better get it in before we waited
another 10 years," he said after turning it in Friday with the $171.32
check. "Fifty-seven years would be embarrassing."

The book,
with its last due date stamped June 2, 1960, was part of the young
Nuranen’s fascination with Egypt. He went on to visit that country and
54 others, and all 50 states, he said, but he never did finish the book.

Nuranen now lives in Los Angeles, where he teaches seventh-grade social studies and language arts.

The library had long ago lost any record of the book, librarian Sue Zubiena said.

"I’m going to use it as an example," she said. "It’s never too late to return your books."