At least that's what one man did, and totally got away with it. David Black took out a book on artist Goya by Dr Xavier de Salas in September 1962 when he was but a boy, and 50 years on, now aged 60, he returned it to the fine art library in Edinburgh and managed to avoid the hefty fine.

How hefty? Just a mere £2,762.55. Lucky him. Black got around the fine after the library declared an amnesty on late return fees, but probably weren't expecting to receive something that hadn't been seen in five decades. Black is now an arts correspondent, and told the Mirror 'I completely forgot to return it. It would pop up every now and again but each time it would slip my mind to actually do it. When I read about the amnesty I decided I must do it, if only to see the librarian's face. It feels good to have brought it back. I can sleep more soundly.'

Now if we can just wangle this for our parking tickets...