'Whodunnit' as Scots library book resurfaces 13 years later
Staff from Faifley Library, Clydebank, were stunned when a book borrowed 13 years ago finally re-surface at a library 700-miles away in Denmark
A Scots library is trying to get to grips with a real life ' whodunnit ' after one of its books, borrowed more than a decade ago, resurfaced – almost 700 miles away in Denmark.
The book was loaned out from Faifley Library, in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, and was due to be returned in January 2012, but was never seen again.
However, gobsmacked staff were stunned to receive the book, along with a letter from The Royal Library, in Copenhagen, explaining the mystery of where the book had been all this time.
The book was discovered on the shelves of a library in the city of Aarhus, in eastern Denmark.
The book, 'A Literature of Life' tells the story of its author Jorge Semprun who was 20-years-old – already an accomplished philosopher and poet – when he was arrested by the Nazis for activities in the French Resistance. He was sent to Buchenwald concentration camp.
The book became a best-seller in France and is a deeply personal account not only of Semprun's time at Buchenwald, but also of the years before and after, of his painful attempts to write the book.
It is considered to have had a profound contribution to Holocaust literature.
To the amazement of the staff at the Faifley Library, the book was returned with a note, which read: 'A mystery?! During a cleanup at one of our institute libraries, a colleague found this book, which belongs to you.
'We have no idea how it ended up here! We have never borrowed a book with this title, and you are not listed in our address database, so it is quite a mystery!
'Perhaps a borrower brought the book from Scotland and accidentally returned it here in Aarhus, Denmark.
'In any case, we are now returning the book to you — maybe you have missed it.'
Now staff from the library are looking to find out just how the book travelled the distance.
A spokesperson for West Dunbartonshire Libraries said: 'Do you have any idea how Life or Literature by Jorge Semprun ended up in Denmark? It was due back for January 7 2012. Don't worry – we don't fine for late books! We would love to know how it got there. Can you solve the mystery?'
The latest discovery is not the furthest that a British library book has been found this year. Back in February, a book borrowed from a Norfolk library was found more than 3,000 miles away, in Connecticut, USA.
Norfolk Library and Information Service shared the story in Facebook.
The book Animal Ark was brought home by a library user and his sister who visited The Norfolk Library in Connecticut. They ended up chatting with staff and when they discovered that the visitors were from Norfolk in the UK they gifted them the book to bring back home.
Norfolk Library and Information Service said: 'Quite how someone got confused and returned it to the wrong place, we have no idea. As you can see, Swaffham Library is very different to The Norfolk Library. Oh, and there's the fact it's literally thousands of miles away and across an entire ocean. But still. It made it there, and it has now made it back!'
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