Man Returns 132-Year-Overdue Magazine During Fine Freeze

John Hanson returned a September 1894 issue of The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine to the Concord Public Library after it had been overdue for 48,220 days, or more than 132 years. Hanson said the magazine had sat on his bookshelf for decades and that he did not know how it came into his possession. The item would have generated an estimated $12,055 fine, but the library waived it under a newly launched one-year freeze on overdue penalties. Concord is studying whether eliminating fines encourages borrowers to return long-overdue materials, while still imposing consequences for lost or damaged items and serious repeat violations. The historic magazine will not return to circulation and may instead be preserved or displayed as part of the library’s historical collection.