Man Returns Grandfather’s Library Book After 84 Years

After nearly eight decades, a copy of the Red Deer book has been returned to a library. The late Captain William Humphries borrowed Richard Jefferies’ book from Earlsdon Library in England in 1938. On Tuesday, the book was returned by his grandson Raddy Riordan. According to BBC, Riordan discovered the book while cleaning up his mother’s house. Riordan made a donation of £18.27 (about Rs. 1,745) when returning the book after 84 years, which would have accrued fines at the 1930s rate.

Riordan would have had to pay £7,673 if the current library charge of 25p per day had been applied to the book (approximately Rs 7 lakh).  “I feel I have expunged my grandfather’s crime,” Riordan said of the incident. Lucy Winter, the library’s community engagement coordinator, described the book as a “beautiful aspect of the library’s history” during an interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service. “Mr. Riordan was so nice and it was so kind of him to donate the fine back to the library,” she said.

The grandson, who lives in Saffron Walden, Essex, felt it would be ‘fun’ to return the copy to the library. According to legend, his grandfather borrowed the book for his then-six-year-old daughter Anne, Riordan’s mother. “My grandfather lived in Earlsdon in the late 1930s. That was where my mother was growing up at the time. I don’t know quite why he didn’t return it but two years later… the Blitz took most of the house out but not the library book. I felt rather bad as I was returning it – they asked if I had read it and I hadn’t. Maybe I should try and take it out again just so I can read it myself. It really wasn’t that exciting a book though, honestly,” replied the grandson.

According to a notification on the front page of the book, the book should have been returned within 14 days by October 11, 1938. Riordan came into the book while cleaning out his late mother’s house in Hinckley, Leicestershire.

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