I've been waiting to read this for some 50 years

MARSHFIELD, Wis. - It's a novel but it's created a mystery — where has the overdue book been for the past 57 years? "We don't have records that go back that far," said Lori Belongia, director of the Marshfield Public Library. "We don't know who checked it out."

The book "Northern Lights" by Roger Vercel turned up in the book drop about a month ago.

Published in 1948, its most recent checkout stamp reads either March or May 10 of 1950.

The library's policy is to ask for reimbursement for books that become so long overdue that it stops charging overdue notices.

In the 1950s, the overdue fine was a penny a day. Now it's 15 cents a day, with a maximum charge of $10.

Belongia said someone probably reimbursed the library at some point.

"Most likely it was someone who took it home, forgot to return it, probably paid for it," she said.

She said the library doesn't expect to put the book back on the shelf. The fictional work, translated from French, is about the son of an explorer and his challenge of charting his destiny.

"It's in good shape," Belongia said. "To put it on the shelf now that we've automated, it would cost us to put it back. It's not dated information, it's just no longer popular. If it were, we would have bought another copy."

It's no mystery what's happened to book prices.

The library has records that show the book was purchased in hardcover in 1948 for $1.93. Now the average book costs more than $25.