Man returns library book 84 years late. Yes, he paid the fine, library in UK says

A man in the United Kingdom came forward with a strange confession on Oct. 25, admitting publicly his family had a library book that was 84 years overdue.

Paddy Riordan decided it was time to set things straight by returning the book and paying an equally overdue fine to the Earlsdon Carnegie Community Library in Conventry.

It was his grandfather, the late Capt. William Harrison, who checked out Richard Jefferies’ “Red Deer” on Oct. 11, 1938, he told library officials.

Riordan, who lives in Saffron Walden, recently discovered his family’s dark secret while “clearing out his mother’s house,” the BBC reported. His grandfather died in 1957, and his mother died recently, he told the library.

“I feel I have expunged my grandfather’s crime,” he told the BBC. “I don’t know quite why he didn’t return it.”

The library did a lot of math and determined the book was exactly 30,695 days overdue ... or 4,385 weeks.

Luckily for Riordan, it decided not to use the 2022 late fee rate, which would have amounted to 7,673 pounds, or $8,855, the BBC noted.

Instead, the library applied the 1930s weekly rate “thought to be equivalent to the 4,385d (pre-decimal penny),” according to the BBC. That amounted to 18.27 pounds in today’s money, or just over $21 in U.S. currency.

Riodan, who retired from Lloyd’s of London, told 9News he was cautious enough to create an Excel spreadsheet in advance to see how much it would cost to return the book.

It was likely checked out for Riodan’s mother, who was 6 at the time, and he conceded he never bothered to read it himself, the station reported.

News of the return had gotten national attention in the U.K., prompting the library to put the book on display, like an artifact.

“How wonderful that the book has finally made its way home!” the library wrote on Facebook.

“Of course, we’re hugely grateful to Paddy Riordan for returning the book to us and for generously donating the fine.”

This story was originally published October 28, 2022 at 11:06 AM with the headline "Man returns library book 84 years late. Yes, he paid the fine, library in UK says."