Greater Sudbury Public Library is trying to connect with a man named Larry who recently returned a book 49 years late.
The book, “Great Moments in Chess”, was apparently taken out by Larry in 1970, and returned to the local library's Copper Cliff branch.
It was accompanied by a note on the signout card inside the book (do you remember those?) that said, “Librarian: sorry - I’m an outrageously slow reader...but here’s the book back.”
The library shared a photo of the extremely late book return on its Twitter page on April 26.
Jessica Watts, lead of the Coniston, Copper Cliff, Garson and Lively libraries, said the library shared the story because it's a light-hearted story in the face of recent provincial cuts to library services.
“It gives us a chuckle,” she said.
Watts does have Larry's last name, but the library hasn't yet publicly shared this information. She's done a search of current library patrons, but he's not listed in the database.
She said she and other library staff are currently investigating other avenues to find Larry.
The tweet prompted a lot of response from the public. One person is seriously interested in purchasing the book — Watts said that due to its age, the book will not be returned to the library's collection.
Another individual calculated that at 10 cents per day, Larry owes Greater Sudbury Public Library about $1,700. But that's not something the library will try to collect on, Watts said.
“It's not something we are looking to do,” she said.
If you think you know the Larry this story refers to and how to get ahold of him, email Watts at [email protected].
