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Remember way back when we were kids and had to be reminded by our parents to return books? It was a given then, and it’s a given today because I always forget to bring borrowed books back! Luckily, I don’t have to feel too bad because I’m not the only one that doesn’t remember to return a book. This library got a with the return of a long-lost book that was way more than a few days overdue.

Via: YouTube

In Minnesota, the Lake Elmo library is like any library you enter in the U.S., stacked to the brim with an array of books for little ones and adults, yet it was an unsuspecting surprise for the library to receive a package, with no return address.

Via: YouTube

Inside this standard flat rate box was a book, now vintage at this point. Opening up the box, the librarian found a handwritten note. The anonymous sender said he had borrowed the car repair manual in the 1970s and forgot to return the book before he moved. He never got the chance to bring the library rental back and apologized for keeping the book for so long.

Via: YouTube

Now he felt like he could repay the fees and sent the book with a lump of cash, some $200, hoping to cover the 47 years of overdue charges or pay for the cost of a new book.

Luckily other locations had copies of the repair manual, so people in the area were still able to rent that book. Washington county, the county where Lake Elmo resides, stopped charging overdue fees, but the library plans to use the money to reinvest into the library by buying other books.

What is the longest you’ve held onto a library book? Can you beat 47 years?