Lost in the early hubbub of the coronavirus crisis was the momentous decision made by the library board in mid-March before the library temporarily closed for the pandemic, which was to change the status of the library to fine free.
Joining more than 200 libraries across the nation, the Crawfordsville District Public Library no longer charges overdue fines if borrowed materials are returned late.
Historically, library boards and administrators have used overdue fines to cover the cost of staff time and materials needed to remind and cajole patrons to return late materials. Overdue fines also were thought to be a deterrent for returning items late or a way to teach responsibility.
Proponents of going fine free argue that it is not a library’s role to teach responsibility. In addition, libraries who were early adopters of going fine free have discovered that fines do not deter library users from returning items late, citing that patrons who previously returned items on time continue to do so, while patrons who were late before tend to continue to return items late.
Removing overdue fines does not mean that folks who borrow library materials can return them when they please. We still have loan periods and request that after you have enjoyed the story, music, or movie you have borrowed, that you return it on time, so that someone else may have the pleasure as well.
Please also note that while overdue fines no longer will be incurred, fees for replacement of lost or damaged materials will continue to be assessed.
I once had a man tell me that he didn’t mind paying overdue fines, as he considered them a type of “donation” to the library. But his place in society allowed him the luxury of paying library fines without a second thought.
Not everyone can afford this type of donation. Some people report that they do not borrow materials from their library for fear of incurring overdue fines, either because they can’t afford them or because paying them makes them feel bad. Even I feel vaguely guilty and sheepish when I have to pay such a fine, even if it’s for being late only one day.
In the three months prior to going fine free, more than 700 interactions between CDPL library patrons and staff members included payment of over $1,400 in overdue fines, some fines as small as $0.10.
Library staff report that enforcing fines creates uncomfortable and sometimes downright nasty encounters with patrons. Are the negative feelings these interactions engender on both sides worth the relatively small amount of revenue generated by these fines?
Fines represent only 0.5% of the expected budget revenue each year, and we calculated that the cost in staff time and materials used to enforce and collect the fines was nearly equivalent to the amount of money collected. This staff time can be put to better use in continuing to forge helpful, positive relationships with library patrons and provide exceptional services.
If a person or family pays for the privilege of using their library through their library taxes or rent, they should be able to enjoy the use of library materials in their home without worrying about fines that do not work as intended.
Theresa Tyner, Director of Crawfordsville District Public Library, contributed this week’s Preview Shelf column.
