Borrowed book returned to library 80 years late...as overdue fine of €4,160 is waived!

The upcoming Eucharistic Congress may have pricked the conscience of a borrower from Navan Library who finally returned a book this week....80 years late! The book may be 80 years overdue, but the person who returned it won't have to pay €4,160 fine as the Meath Library Service has decided to waive it. The book 'The pictorial record of the 31st International Eucharistic Congress, Dublin, 1932' was borrowed from Navan Library shortly after it was first published in 1932 but was never returned. However, the book was returned through the letterbox of Navan Library over the weekend. Meath County Librarian Ciaran Mangan said: "It is a very unusual occurrence and, of course, we are delighted that this book has been returned after all these years. "We are certainly intrigued as to the identity of the borrower as we do not hold records of loans dating back to the 1930s. "However, I can assure the borrower that we will not be charging overdues on this occasion," he said. Asked to speculate on the identity of the person who returned the item, the county librarian said: "Perhaps it is one of our existing 7,000 borrowers at Navan Library or maybe a lapsed borrower? But whoever it is, we are very grateful to them, and the book will now be on display at Navan Library during normal opening hours." He said the newly refurbished Navan Library is open 49 hours a week, Monday through to Saturday, so the Good Samaritan will have ample opportunity to call in and see the book returned to its rightful place. Anybody interested in following the story can keep up to date by following the story on the library's Facebook page, Twitter account or on the library blog.