After 21 years, woman gets reminder to return library books

Amarjot Kaur

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 14

On October 9, Harjot Kaur, a Gurugram-based homemaker, received a WhatsApp message from her neighbours in Chandigarh, containing an image of a letter from the Divisional Library (South), Sector 34, which had her swinging between shock and surprise.

The letter, titled ‘Return of books’, was a reminder to Harjot for returning three books. They were due to be returned 21 years ago, on November 21, 2000.

The library’s reminder was dated September 28, 2021 and listed the names of three Hindi language books, ‘Ashk’, ‘Upendranath’, ‘Parda Uthao’ and ‘Parda Girao’, which Harjot did not remember issuing. “I used to issue English language books. I was maybe in Class IX or X when I visited the library frequently. I have no memory of issuing these books,” she said.

She said this was the first time she recieved a reminder from the library. “It’s been 21 years and this is the first time I received such a letter. I left Chandigarh and settled in Gurugram with my husband, some eight years ago,” she said.

Parveen Kumar, librarian in charge, said, “We send reminders on mails, calls and even SMS, apart from sending letters. This is a regular process. We have about 55,000 members. This must have been a long-due reminder from the time when the library wasn’t digitised. Also, for two years, because of Covid, the library was closed, causing the delay.”

Meanwhile, Harjot was fretting over the fine money. She said she did not know how much fine would have been imposed on her, considering it had been 21 years. “I’m a little worried and surprised too,” she said.

The much-needed respite came from Dr Parveen, who said, “We charge Re 1 per day, after due date and the maximum limit of fine is Rs 100.” However, that still leaves Harjot in a quandary, especially about the books, which she says she never issued.