DETROIT (AP) — Fifty years later, a man who grew up in suburban Detroit tried to return a long-overdue baseball book to his childhood library.
The answer: you can keep it and you won’t get fined.
Chuck Hildebrandt, 63, of Chicago, said he visited the public library in Warren while he was in town for Thanksgiving, carrying a book titled “Baseball’s Craziest Stars.” He had borrowed it in 1974 when he was 13 and never returned it.
“When you’re moving through a bunch of books, you’re not examining every book. You put them in a box and leave,” said Hildebrandt, who has lived in many cities. “But five or six years ago, I was going through the bookshelf and there was a Dewey library decimal number in the book. What is this?”
Inside the book was a piece of paper indicating it was due back to the Warren Library on Dec. 4, 1974. Hildebrandt told The Associated Press that he decided to keep the book until 2024, the 50th anniversary, and then try to return it. . He thought the library might want to publicize the long-delayed exchange.
He said he recently met library director Oksana Urban, who heard his speech. Hildebrandt said he hasn’t heard anything since, although Urban told the Detroit Free Press that all is forgiven.
“Some people never come back to face the music,” he said of customers with overdue books. “But there was really no music to contend with because he and the book were erased from our system.”
So “Baseball’s Craziest Stars” is back on Hildebrandt’s shelf. In return, it is now trying to get up $4,564 to Reading is Fundamental, a nonprofit literacy group. The amount represents approximately a 50-year overdue library fine. Hildebrandt is contributing $457 to the effort.
Ed White, Associated Press