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  "path": "/man-finds-his-childhood-library-book-on-his-parents-shelf-in-greece-36-years-overdue",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-05T19:39:14.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.upworthy.com",
  "tags": [
    "Handwritten note",
    "Library book",
    "Overdue library book",
    "Public libraries",
    "Chantilly regional library",
    "Greece",
    "Library fines",
    "Fine-free library",
    "Libraries",
    "past its due date",
    "missing from the library",
    "book",
    "on their Facebook page",
    "www.facebook.com",
    "According to _Northern Virginia Magazine_",
    "Photo credit: Canva",
    "told the _Washington Post_.",
    "Photo credit: Canva",
    "one of the greatest ideas"
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  "textContent": "\n\n\n\nMost of us have returned an overdue library book or two in our lifetimes, but probably not one that went several decades past its due date. Books that have been missing from the library for that long are usually destroyed or long lost, fated to never make their way back home.\n\nThat was not the case for a copy of _Harry the Dirty Dog_ that was returned to the Chantilly Regional Library in Virginia on Thanksgiving weekend 2025. The children's book had been checked out 36 years earlier by the parents of Dimitris Economou, who was five years old at the time. The Fairfax County Public Library shared a photo of the book and the handwritten note that accompanied it on their Facebook page.\n\nThe note read:\n\nThe Fairfax County Public Library shared this photo on its Facebook page. www.facebook.com\n\n_“This book was checked out Nov. 6, 1989 by my parents who were diplomats based in DC at the time. They are now retired in Greece and I found this book on their shelves. It traveled the world and was well taken care of as you can see. And now it can find its way home.”_\n\nThe library also wrote, \"Thank you to Dimitris' parents for taking such good care of our book and to Dimitris for helping the book find its way back to our shelves.\"\n\nAccording to _Northern Virginia Magazine_, Economou found the children's book on his parents' shelf when he took it down to read to his own son.\n\n“I was reading it to my son, who is now seven years old,” Economou said, “As we got to the end, I realized it was a library book. … The moment I saw it, I felt like I had to return it. ...It just felt like the right thing to do.”\n\nSome children's books never get old. Photo credit: Canva\n\n## It's never too late to return a library book\n\nEconomou's family had taken the book with them through many moves all around the world, from Syria to the Netherlands, to Japan, and finally ending up in Athens, Greece. So basically, _Harry the Dirty Dog_ had a three-decade-long globetrotting adventure with the family until Economou discovered it.\n\nWhy return it after that much time? As Economou said, it was simply the right thing to do.\n\n“People really care about library books, and most people really care about getting them back. And this kind of proves it, that they really cared about getting the book back to us,” library branch manager Ingrid Bowers told the _Washington Post_.\n\nAs far as fines for such an overdue book, Economou didn't need to worry. Chantilly Regional Library is a fine-free library, so _Harry the Dirty Dog_ just got reshelved for other kids to enjoy.\n\nLibrarians are the best.Photo credit: Canva\n\n## The timeless joy and wonder of the public library system\n\nPublic libraries are undeniably one of the greatest ideas human beings have ever come up with and one that we should never take for granted. Everything about libraries is a testament to humanity's faith in itself. The belief that people should have free access to knowledge, information, ideas, art, and entertainment is beautiful. Librarians trained to help you find whatever you are looking for are a gift. In many places, libraries now offer other useful items to borrow, such as power tools, kitchen appliances, gardening supplies, language classes, and museum passes. Libraries recognize needs and fill them, asking nothing in return except for people to bring things back.\n\nPerhaps that's why Economou returning a book after 36 years felt like the right thing to do and makes us feel good in turn. Libraries trust us, collectively, to uphold our part of the agreement, which isn't a lot to ask when their part is so much greater. In exchange for getting to take home almost any book we can think of (plus whatever else they offer), we're supposed to bring them back. Even if it's been 36 years.",
  "title": "Man returns his beloved childhood book to the library after finding it on the other side of the world"
}