Someone returned a record album to the Boston Public Library last week. It was due in 1976.

Librarians at the Boston Public Library discovered a surprise at the bottom of their book drop at the Jamaica Plain branch last week — a long overdue Motown record. 

NBC10 Boston reports the pocket inside the “Anthology” by Junior Walker and the All Stars indicates the album was borrowed from the Egleston Square branch and was due back on Oct. 27, 1976. 

Librarian Shane Gellerman told the outlet that the library was having a book sale the same day and had been receiving a lot of donations.

“Maybe they thought it was a good time to return an old item, too,” he said.

The library no longer has the machines used to read the punch card in the record’s jacket, having switched to a computerized system using barcodes in the last 50 years.

Gellerman told NBC10 Boston that the library stopped lending vinyl records in the last decade. 

“It seems a shame to throw out a 50-year-old record that looks like it’s still in good shape, and it’s part of the library history with the punch card in it,” he told the station. “It’s a reminder of when the library lent out vinyl records.”

While the borrower remains a mystery,  whoever they are, they don’t have to worry about late fines for long-overdue record. The Boston Public Library eliminated late fees in April 2021.

Dialynn Dwyer

Dialynn Dwyer is a reporter and editor at Boston.com, covering breaking and local news across Boston and New England.

 

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