George Washington Has a $300,000 Library Late Fee 3.44K Maureen O'Connor 04/17/10 12:29PM Filed to: History History George Washington late fees Library In 1789 George Washington borrowed books about international relations and the British House of Commons from a Manhattan library. He never returned them. If he returned them now, he'd owe an "inflation-adjusted $300,000 late fee." [NYDN]