Discussed this topic recently. Here's a good example:
A history book about the US has been returned to a library in California, almost 100 years overdue. The copy of Benson Lossing's A History of the United States, published in 1881, was returned to St Helena public library in Napa Valley earlier this month. It had been due back on 21 February 1927.
At the time the book was borrowed, fines for overdue titles were a nickel (five cents) a day, meaning Jim Perry, who had the book, theoretically owed about $1,756 (£1,417). Luckily for him, the library scrapped late fines in 2019.
I wonder what the psychology of that is? Was it a matter of putting it off and then realising that any fine would be massive (though why didn't the library concerned pursue the rogue borrower?). Or that the person simply forgot, moved house, or something.
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