Yep, you read that right. The Chicago Public Library is waiving all late fees—but there's a catch. They want their books back.
The overdue book amnesty program starts Thursday and runs for the next two weeks, ending Thursday, February 18. And it's not just books the library is accepting. Libraries will also take back pretty much anything they lend out, including CDs, movies or whatever else is theirs that you've been guiltily schlepping from apartment to apartment.
The library's last amnesty program was in 2012. During that amnesty drive the library saw 101,301 overdue items returned, and 40,000 patrons renewed their cards. The total value of the returned items was estimated to be about $2 million and Chicagoans had $641,820 in fines waived, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Even very, very old items are accepted. The 2012 book return program saw a rare copy of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray that had been overdue for 78 years returned. So, no excuses! Now's the chance to get rid of that guilty pang every time you eye the spines on your shelf.