In a nutshell
The library was charging a $0.10 per day late fee for any item returned past its due date. Now that the policy was removed, the library will no longer enforce late fees.
However, Library Director Peggy Parrish said if an item is not returned after its due date, the borrower will be responsible for paying the full cost of the item.
How we got here
The removal of overdue book fines is happening in libraries across the county. Library staff have found that after removing the late fees, patrons are returning outdated items and feeling relieved to start using the library again, city officials said.
Parrish said patrons are mainly bothered by being penalized for overdue items when they are already taxpayers.
“They’ve already invested in the library, and if they’re coming to the library, they care about it,” she said.
City officials said removing the policy could result in an overall patron satisfaction.
The takeaway
The removal of overdue book fines went into effect Jan. 4.
Over the next year, officials plan to track patron behavior, on-time return rates and the amount of overdue materials to analyze the effectiveness of removing the late fees.
