These Major Library Systems Do Not Charge Late Fees

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The Chicago Public Library System and the Fort Worth Public Library System stopped charging fines for expired books and wrote off any outstanding fines this week. They join a growing list of libraries that have replaced late fees with softer, more flexible “lost book” fees. Here are the basic systems that have done the same, and why it is a humane and practical choice.

Late payments don’t work

The library’s penalty is not to punish visitors. This is to ensure that they return books (and music, and films, and games, and much more ) in time, so that everyone can share the resources of the library.

Fines do not serve this purpose, according to statements from Fort Worth and Chicago: other libraries have canceled fines and saw no reduction in returns.

Fines were indeed more of a punishment than a deterrent, and worse, a punishment for poverty. Chicago Public Library Commissioner Andrea Telli tells the Sun-Times : “It turns out that especially in Chicago, in communities that are not so socially and economically prosperous, people are prohibited from using libraries due to a $ 10 fine, and as you move north to it is not so obvious in the city. “

This policy blocked 343,208 visitors from the Chicago system and 18,000 from Fort Worth. And blocking them had the completely wrong effect: “We are losing the fine, patron and materials,” says Telli. And the fines that the system charges do not add substantially to the library’s budget. Most large systems receive less than 1% of their budget from fines.

“Commission for lost books” is still valid

In practice, library fines and lockouts only serve to dissuade those who need it most from it: those who cannot afford to buy all the books they read. These are the same visitors who find it difficult to raise money to pay late fees and fees for lost books. Reports from the Colorado State Library and the San Francisco Public Library show that late payments disproportionately alienate low-income families without any significant gain. The Daytona Subway Library found that the elimination of fines forced more visitors to return books on time .

In Chicago and Fort Worth, fines do not completely disappear. Some loans from other systems still incur late fees, just like lost books. But lockout thresholds are being raised to less shallow levels: $ 30 for a lockout in Chicago, $ 50 for Fort Worth. In Chicago, visitors can replace or return a book to cancel payment. In Fort Worth, children can also “work off” wages for lost books by reading or volunteering.

Forgiveness of debt can always seem like a kind of moral weakening, but this is an archaic and impractical point of view. Libraries don’t exist to teach life lessons about the importance of getting a book to the library by Friday. They exist to give everyone free access to information.

Library systems without fines

The City Libraries Board maintains a map of the US library systems that have removed fines for some or all visitors. (Most systems still charge a “lost book” fee.)

Major systems include:

Find your system on the map or search for “[name of your library system] fines” to find the latest news. Some of the libraries above have changed their policies so recently that they still have not updated the standard penalties page. You can also look for any amnesty periods where some libraries allow visitors to return expired books without fines.

If your library system hasn’t removed the penalties, email them to ask who you should lobby for the change. You will likely find that the library staff wants to end fines too and know who can make that decision.

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