Literature

Magazine Returned to US Library 132 Years After It Was Borrowed

19 September 2026 09:09 AM

NEWS DESK

A magazine borrowed from a public library in the US state of New Hampshire has been returned 132 years later.

According to reports in international media, 84-year-old John Hanson recently visited the Concord Public Library and returned a September 1894 issue of The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine.

Hanson decided to return the magazine after the library announced that it would waive overdue fines on books and other materials that had been kept out for extended periods.

The magazine was returned after 48,220 days. Had the overdue fine been charged, the amount would have exceeded $12,055, equivalent to around 3.36 million Indian rupees.

Hanson said the magazine had been in his home for several decades, although he does not know how it came into his possession.

The library had hoped that its decision to eliminate overdue fines would encourage people to return long-overdue books and other materials.

However, staff members were surprised when an item published in 1894 was among the materials brought back.

The return has given the library an unusual glimpse into its past—and a magazine that had been missing from its collection for more than a century.

US Library Magazine