North Tyneside's most overdue library book returned after 56 years

Lesley Harrison borrowed a German language textbook from the old Whitley Bay library in April 1966, when she was just 14 years old. Credit: North Tyneside Council

A woman has returned North Tyneside's most overdue library book after 56 years.

Lesley Harrison, who lives in Shiremoor, borrowed a German language textbook ‘Ich Lerne Deutsch’ from the old Whitley Bay library in April 1966, when she was just 14 years old and studying for a German O-Level at Whitley Bay Grammar School.

She recalls, at the time, England were about to win the World Cup and people across the country would watch the match in black and white, on televisions rented for nine shillings a week.

A note inside the front cover asks for the book to be returned within 21 days, or there would be a fine of 3d (three pence) per week, but it would be another 20,656 days before it was back in the hands of North Tyneside Council.

Ms Harrison returned the book to Killingworth Library in December 2022 after hearing that the council had abolished its late charges and was offering a prize for the most overdue book in North Tyneside.

The library calculated if the fines had not been abolished, she would have racked up £2,000 in late fees.

A hypothetical fine of more than £2,000 in today’s money could have been owed on the book.  Credit: North Tyneside Council

Now aged 70, she said: “I was doing O-Level German at Whitley Bay Grammar School and went on to do A-Level German, as well as French, and I later taught myself Spanish. I don’t remember very many words of German.

“I knew I hadn’t brought the book back and when I moved out of my parents’ house, I thought I wouldn’t be able to afford the fine, so it stayed in a drawer. We moved around a lot, and it always came with me.

“When I heard about the amnesty, I thought ‘I’m sure I’ve got an old book lying around somewhere,’ and I know the library staff were shocked and amused when I brought it in. It’s still in a good condition though. I do look after my books.”

Ms Harrison, a former civil servant who once thought of becoming a librarian, has an otherwise unblemished book-borrowing record and has never been late returning a book since she moved back to North Tyneside from Chester-Le-Street in 2013.

She added: “I got married in ’74 and we moved away from North Tyneside. We came back in 2013 and since then I’ve been very good at bringing books back; I don’t think I’ve ever paid a fine. I’ve been scrupulous to bring the books back or renew them online.”

A hypothetical fine of more than £2,000 in today’s money could have been owed on the book.

Councillor Sandra Graham, cabinet member responsible for libraries, said: “Just for fun, we did a rough calculation of the late fee that a book 56 years overdue could have incurred and it would have come to more than £2,000.

“The book is in a great condition, and I want to thank Lesley for bringing it back. We’ve had such a positive response to our decision to scrap fines and this is the oldest book we’ve had back by some distance. Better late than never.”

The world record for the most overdue library book is held by ‘Scriptores Rerum Germanicarum Septentrionalium, Vicinorumque Populorum Diversi’ which was returned to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, in 1956 – 288 years overdue.

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