Detroit-area library says Chicago man can keep overdue baseball book – 50 years later

By ED WHITE Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) — Fifty years later, a man who grew up in suburban Detroit attempted to return a much-anticipated baseball book to his childhood library.

The answer: you can keep it – and no fine.

Chuck Hildebrandt, 63, of Chicago, said he went to the Warren Public Library while he was in town for Thanksgiving, with a book called “Baseball’s Wackiest Stars.” He borrowed it in 1974 at the age of 13, but never returned it.

“When you move with a bunch of books, you don’t look at all the books. You throw them in a box and off you go,” said Hildebrandt, who has lived in many cities. “But five or six years ago, I was looking through the shelf and there was a Dewey decimal library number on the book. What is this?”

Inside the book was a slip of paper stating that it was due to be returned to the Warren Library on December 4, 1974. Hildebrandt told the Associated Press that he had decided to keep the book until 2024 – the 50th anniversary – and then trying to give it back. . He thought the library might want to publicize this long-awaited exchange.

He said he recently met with library director Oksana Urban, who listened to his pitch. Hildebrandt said he hasn’t heard anything since, although Urban told the Detroit Free Press that all is forgiven.

“Some people never come back to face the music,” she said of customers whose books were overdue. “But there really was no music to contend with because he and the book were erased from our system.”

So, “Baseball’s Wackiest Stars” are back on Hildebrandt’s shelf. In return, he’s now trying to raise $4,564 for Reading is Fundamental, a nonprofit literacy group. The amount is roughly a 50-year fine for an overdue library. Hildebrandt is funding this effort with $457.