Library Lovers Pay Late Fees for Books Checked out in 1970s

ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) - A Minnesota family has given a Maryland library a check for about $1,550 to cover the late fees for two books that were supposed to have been returned more than 40 years ago.

Jon Kramer, of Minneapolis, says he was searching through his deceased parents' library last month at their vacation cabin on an island in Ontario, Canada, when he found a camping book and a cookbook that had been checked out from Montgomery County's Twinbrook branch library in the 1970s.

Kramer remembered his family's trips to the library fondly and sent a $1,552.30 donation, using the 1970s-era fine rate of a nickel a day to calculate the fee.

Kramer says he is keeping the books but will be willing to continue paying the books' late fees in the future.