From Dudley to Down Under: Library book’s astonishing journey
When a book was handed to Jessica Berry, she assumed it belonged to the library she worked at in East Gippsland, Australia.
Looking more closely, she realised that wasn’t the case. The loan wasn’t overdue but the library it belonged to was 10,500 miles away in Dudley.
“We were amazed when Jessica contacted us,” said library assistant James Windsor.
“It’s always interesting to see where our books end up but this one was literally on the other side of the world.
“The item originally lived with us at Gornal Library and we’ve been entertaining some of our regulars with the story of this novel’s incredible journey.”
Described as wickedly funny and brilliantly observed, ‘The Hive’ is a Sunday Times bestseller that was written by Gill Hornby and published in 2013.
“It’s clearly a very good read,” said Stephanie Rhoden, GLL Partnership Manager for Dudley Libraries.
“The book was on loan until the end of March and was therefore returned on time – to a library thousands of miles from ours!
“We’ve now withdrawn it from our collection so it can stay where it is. East Gippsland is in the far east of Victoria and looks like an amazing place to be.”
Gornal is a well-used and much-loved community library near Dudley. For more information, visit hbetter.org.uk/library/dudley/gornal-library
