Overdue Book Returned To Sussex 43 Years Late During Amnesty

(c) East Sussex County Council

A book borrowed nearly 43 years ago has been returned to a Sussex library — so overdue it no longer appears on the system.

The item was handed back to Rye Library during an annual amnesty, which allows people to return overdue books without being fined or judged.

The returned title, The Potter’s Book of Glaze Recipes by Emmanuel Cooper, is a guide for potters on creating their own glazes.

Library staff say the due date stamped inside the book was June 1983.

East Sussex libraries also noted another record-breaking return in recent years, when children’s book Havelok the Warrior by Ian Serraillier was handed back 48 years late after originally being due in 1975.

Since this year’s amnesty began on 16 February, more than 22,000 overdue loans and hundreds of lost books have been returned or renewed across the county.

Nick Skelton, assistant director of communities at East Sussex County Council, said it was positive to see long-lost titles back in circulation.

He said the amnesty helps recover books “without the public fearing being judged or fined” and that staff are simply “happy to have them back”.

Council data also shows Hastings and Eastbourne libraries previously had more than 13,000 overdue loans, with around 65% of those from the junior fiction section.