A young man came to the Israel National Library in Jerusalem. The books he came to return really surprised the librarians. They were 2 old and faded history books his grandmother took out for work on her doctorate thesis 60 years ago.
The books were published in 1897 and they dealt with the ‘Kingdom of Phrygia’ which was an ancient kingdom in the Anatolia region which is in Asia Minor or what is predominantly the land of Turkey today. At the time the books were borrowed the Israel National Library had the name ‘National House of books’ and it was stamped that way inside the cover. With the stamp they were able to figure out where to return the books to.
According to rules there’s a penalty for the late return of books. At a rate of 1,560 shekel a year, 60 years should amount to 93,600 shekel. But a handshake, a smile and a thank you was satisfactory payment for returning the books.
The Library Spokeswoman, Mrs. Vered Leon-Yerushalmi said: “The books were returned in excellent condition. We’re always happy to get borrowed books back into the library even after 90, 100 or 120 years!”