A library book borrowed in 1933 has finally been returned to Saltvik municipal library on Finland’s Aland Islands, ending a loan that lasted 92 years and six months.
The copy of If Winter Comes, a novel by British author A.S.M. Hutchinson, was checked out nearly a century ago. The due date stamped inside the book reads 17 September 1933, a reminder of just how long it had remained away from the library.
“It was 92 years and 6 months overdue,” said Malin Blomqvist, a librarian at Saltvik.
Under a hypothetical late-fee calculation of 20 cents per day, the overdue charges would have reached approximately 6,757 euros. However, the library did not require the person who returned the book to pay the amount. The borrower, who appeared uncertain about whether a fine was due, had politely asked about possible charges.
Blomqvist reassured the person that the library was simply pleased to have the book back. “I’m just glad it came back. Thanks for thinking to return it. Getting it back is like finding a treasure,” she said.
The return is an unusual piece of library history, particularly given the length of time the book remained unaccounted for. It is now recognised as the second-oldest overdue library loan in Finland.
The national record belongs to Turku City Library, which recovered a book five years ago after it had been missing from its shelves for more than 140 years. That return remains the country’s longest-known overdue library loan.
Hutchinson’s If Winter Comes was published in the early 1920s and explored subjects that were controversial at the time, including adultery, motherhood outside marriage and suicide. Its themes reflected social issues that challenged the conventions of the period.
For Saltvik municipal library, the book’s return brings a small but remarkable piece of its history back into its collection. What began as an ordinary loan in 1933 has become a story of a book that survived decades away from the shelves before finally finding its way home.
