Cambridge Library Book Returned 60 Years Later

A Cambridge University library book has finally returned to the university 60 years later. The book, Cultures and Societies of Africa, had been borrowed in 1959.

The book is a collection of some of the most important anthropological writings on Africa. It provides the background knowledge of traditional African cultures without which there can be no understanding of what is happening on the continent today.

[caption id="attachment_81504" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The book[/caption]

According to BBC, the book was returned to Gonville and Caius College by a former student, and then it was taken to the main university library.

The library wrote on twitter: "Better late than never", adding "suffice to say we waived the fine". Earlier, the library agreed to reduce the fine that reached nearly £4,700, based on today's rate of £1.50 a week.

"Must have been a great book - or a very slow reader?" the library said.

The library’s spokesman said that it was not clear for them whether the student who borrowed the book, had kept it for so long "mistakenly or deliberately". He added that the book had been listed as missing on the library's system all that time.

Eventually, the book has now been returned to the cataloguing department and will be put back on the shelf very soon.

Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge in England. It is also the largest of 114 libraries within the university. The Library is a major scholarly resource for the members of the University of Cambridge and external researchers.