150-Year Overdue Book Returns to Kiama Library

On July 30, 2026, a volume titled *Antiquities of Athens* (1858) was returned to the Kiama public library after being hidden for roughly 150 years. The book was discovered by local resident Ross Simmons while renovating his home; it had been sealed inside a tea crate bricked into a fireplace. Library manager Michelle Hudson identified it as catalogue number 506, part of the library’s original collection of about 1,000 books when the institution opened in 1872.

YnetNews

Kiama Library began operations in 1872, first in the Kiama School of Arts building before moving to its current Railway Parade location. Borrowing rules recorded on the book’s interior cover reflect 19th-century policies: a three-pence weekly overdue charge, a requirement to settle debts before borrowing again, and restrictions on intoxicated patrons and household limits. Those regulations have long been abandoned; modern users no longer face fines.

ABC News Australia

• Publication year: 1858.

A 150-year-overdue book resurfaces in a library, found bricked in a fireplace

• Catalogue number: 506; original collection size: ~1,000 items.

A 150-year-overdue book resurfaces in a library, found bricked in a fireplace

• Estimated overdue fine (inflation-adjusted): ? AU $28,000 (? US $19,500) based on the historic rate; an alternate estimate is ? AU $20,000.

YnetNews

• Physical condition: water damage, 70 black-and-white illustrations, several fold-out diagrams.

ABC News Australia

• The book will be housed in the Local Studies collection and displayed in a protective archival box.

ABC News Australia

Hudson explained that the 1870s borrower registers were lost, leaving no record of the last patron and preventing recovery of the accrued fine. She said the volume likely went missing shortly after the library opened and will be kept out of circulation to avoid another century-long lapse, featuring it in the local history exhibit. Simmons speculated that his great-great-grandfather John Simmons, an English immigrant and former Kiama alderman, may have been the original borrower, though he could not confirm why the book was never returned.

YnetNews

• Fine estimate: Most sources (CNN, ABC, AP) calculate the overdue charge at AU $28,000 after inflation adjustment; Ynet reports about AU $20,000.

YnetNews

• Borrower identification: All outlets agree the 1870s borrowing ledger is missing, leaving the final borrower’s identity unknown. No definitive evidence links John Simmons to the loan beyond Simmons’ assumption.

CNN

• “We’ve never had anything that old come back to us,” — Michelle Hudson

CNN

• “Unfortunately, we have a missing link. There’s nothing in the book that tells us who the last borrower was,” — Michelle Hudson

CNN

• “We’re not going to allow it to go back out again. We don’t want to wait another 150 years for this book to be returned,” — Michelle Hudson

CNN