Anatomy of one (short) solutions story
Come next month, you won’t have to pay late fees at Teton County Library. The library is joining a growing number of libraries around the country that are eliminating fines for overdue materials. Following the change they are seeing mostly neutral or positive results, findings the local system relied on as it weighed the change. “It’s a nationwide trend; it’s where libraries are going,” interim Library Director Deb Adams told the board in March when the idea was introduced. “There are a number of other libraries in the state of Wyoming that have already gone this route with much success and really not much of a problem.”Basically, for library materials, the incentive to return items (other than an intrinsic sense of communal responsibility) will no longer be financial. Instead, patrons with overdue items will have their cards frozen until the items are returned. While patrons won’t be charged for late returns, they could still be charged a replacement fee if they never return an item and it is deemed lost, which usually kicks in about six weeks after the due date. Interlibrary loans will also no longer cost money. A staff report says the library spends between $1,600 and $1,800 annually to send the loaned items back to the originating library, costs that were passed on to patrons.Eliminating overdue fines is a nationwide trend that seeks to address a root problem: Those who are most affected by fines are also the ones who need the library most. A $30 fine, for instance, can deter a patron from returning overdue books and accessing crucial resources like Wi-Fi hot spots or printing services because the fine may be unaffordable. Critics of fines say that dynamic creates a system that marginalizes the poorest patrons. Once patrons incur fines they simply stop coming, depriving themselves of a community resource because of the regressive punishment.
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