Helsinki Library Receives Back Book that is 84 Years Overdue

Helsinki Library receives book 84 years overdue: Conan Doyle's "The Refugees," returned in good condition, highlights rare, extremely late returns.

on May 28, 2024

Helsinki Library Receives Back Book that is 84 Years Overdue | Frontlist

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novel should have been returned by December 26, 1939.

Oodi announced the novel's somewhat delayed release via its social media outlets, including Facebook.

"It's nice to have it back," Oodi spokesperson Emma-Lotta Tynkkynen said, noting that the book was returned to the library's information desk because the automatic returns machine wouldn't accept it.

Conan Doyle's The Refugees, published in 1893, is a historical fiction set in 17th-century France.

According to the 1930s loan card that came with the book, the last person to borrow it was a businessman from Pursimiehenkatu in the Punavuori area of the city.

The Refugees (Pakolaiset in Finnish) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had expired on 26 December 1939.

Oodi posted about the slightly tardy return of the novel via its social media channels, including on Facebook.

"It's nice to have it back," Oodi spokesperson Emma-Lotta Tynkkynen said, adding that the book was returned to the library's information desk as the automatic returns machine would not accept it.

Oodi did not give any information about the individual who opted to republish the book.

"The book is in surprisingly good condition." The binding is intact, and there are no noticeable stains. It's in reading condition," Tynkkynen said, noting that the individual who returned it was not fined.

She went on to say that while many overdue books are periodically returned to Oodi or libraries in general, loans thus far out of date are extremely rare.

In 2015, the Pukinmäki Library in Helsinki received a Sherlock Holmes book — also written by Arthur Conan Doyle — that was 87 years overdue. A year later, a book 80 years past its return date was handed in to the Municipal Library in Laihia, in the west of Finland.