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For the next three weeks, Montreal’s libraries are offering outlaw readers a chance to wipe the slate clean.

If you have an overdue book in your possession — be it days, months, years or decades past the deadline — you can return it to the library without incurring late fees. That’s right, for just this one brief moment in time, the library is giving you a chance at absolution.

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Provided the book remains in good condition, they’ll take it back no questions asked.

“By erasing the burden of late fees, we hope to welcome members who can take advantage of this amnesty period to return precious documents,” said Mayor Denis Coderre, who enacted this literary pardon program as part of the city’s 375th birthday.

“(They) can also benefit from this opportunity to renew their library card, if need be. That way, they’ll be able to once again discover the treasures of their neighbourhood library.”

This offer also extends to readers who don’t owe books, but whose file reads like the rap sheet of some bookish scofflaw. If you have existing late fees on your file, just show up to your local library and they’ll wipe your record clean. Just like that.