Fine idea KOs late-book fee
IF FORGIVENESS is divine, the city libraries are godly.
New York City’s three public library systems are lifting all outstanding late fines for city youths Thursday, clearing roughly $2.25 million in charges and erasing blocks on youngsters’ library cards effective immediately.
The program automatically grants a clean slate to all library patrons up to age 17 who have library fines for late materials. High school students up to age 21 may also clear their fines, by visiting libraries in person through Nov. 2.
Mayor de Blasio said the program, which was paid for by a grant from the JPB Foundation, will benefit hundreds of city families.
“With a clean slate, our children can focus on what our treasured libraries provide them — a safe and convenient place to study,” de Blasio said.
The forgiveness program is good for all 216 branches of the New York Public Library, Queens Public Library and Brooklyn Public Library systems.
It applies to late fees on all borrowed library materials, including books, DVDs and periodicals. Overdue items that are not returned by Thursday will accrue fresh fines.
People who borrow from city libraries usually have two to three weeks to return what they take out
Once something is overdue, a daily charge begins to accumulate at 25 cents to $3 per day, depending on what it is.
Fines cap at the cost of the borrowed item. Once someone garners $15 in fines, their card is blocked and unusable.
Library officials said about 161,000 — or one in five — of the city’s 927,000 regular youth library cardholders have suspended borrowing privileges due to accumulated fines.
And almost half of those children and teens with blocked cards come from branches in high-needs neighborhoods, library officials said.
Niagalen Keitam, a mother of three from the Bronx, said fines can add up fast.
“If you have one or more kids and they forget their books, it becomes burdensome quickly,” Keitam said. “The result is that the kids can’t get to the opening that books give them — and books are really the window to the world.”
New York Public Library President Tony Marx said the amnesty program will provide relief to many.