NATIONAL CITY COUNCIL VOTES TO ELIMINATE LATE FEES AT LIBRARY

The National City Public Library is scrapping late fees in an effort to reopen access to people deterred by the penalties they incurred, but who stand to benefit the most from the library.

Council members on Tuesday unanimously approved a no-fine policy as recommended by the Board of Library Trustees. “Not charging library fines enables equitable access to library services for everyone. It creates a more positive experience for patrons and less staff time is taken up in collecting fines,” said Joyce Ryan, city director of Library and Community Services.

National City is part of a growing number of library systems nationwide with nofine policies. It now joins 83 of the 88 libraries in San Diego County that offer finefree borrowing. Coronado and Carlsbad charge late fees but are also exploring dropping them.

The traditional purposes of fines were to discourage people from returning materials late and to generate revenue for the library, but more libraries have found that the practice has resulted in not only losing material and revenue, but losing cardholders, particularly those in underserved communities.

In 2019, the American Library Association approved a resolution that deemed late fees “a form of social inequity” because “monetary fines present an economic barrier to access of library materials and services” and “absorb(s) valuable staff time applying, collecting, and managing dues.”

The Chicago Public Library found in 2019 that one in three patrons, many under age 14, were barred from checking out items because they owed $10 or more in fees. And at the San Diego Public Library, nearly $1 million was invested trying to collect $675,000 in annual fees before it stopped incurring fines in 2018.

Ryan said the library solicited community feedback about a no-fine policy and found that most supported the idea. Some, however, worried that materials would not be returned and that a lack of accountability would worsen. In response, she said Chicago’s fine-free practice has boosted book returns by 240 percent.

Like other no-fine policies, National City’s new practice doesn’t mean materials can be checked out indefinitely without penalty. Overdue materials will be automatically billed to a patron after 30 days, but the charges are removed if the items are returned. After 90 days, a patron’s account will be sent to collections if the bill is more than $100.

National City’s late fees ranged between 25 cents per day for books and $3 per day for movies and audiobooks. The library’s highest revenue from late fees was $48,000 in 2017, making up less than 1 percent of its overall budget, according to a library staff report. Funds from overdue fines have dropped since, especially due to pandemic-related closures.

From 2017 to this year, National City had $53,000 in outstanding late fees, Ryan said. It also has about 4,000 patron accounts owing $250,000 that were sent to collections between 2012-18. Of that amount due, only 10 percent has been collected. Ryan said the library will try to collect either its materials back or the funds.