Officials dropping late fines for all overdue materials

The fee waiver is being granted as long as items are eventually returned

If you haven’t paid late fees for overdue books and other materials checked out of a Santa Clara County library, forget about it. After all, the Santa Clara County Library District already has.

The district announced this week that although it hasn’t charged late fees for overdue children’s materials for decades, it’s now extended that policy to include all of its more than 2 million books, magazines, music and movies — as long as they’re eventually returned.

Santa Clara County Supervisor Mike Wasserman, who chairs the Library Joint Powers Authority, said the move is intended to promote equity.

“One of the core values of the Santa Clara County Library District is ensuring equal and open access to library services. Fines do not affect everyone equally. They pose a greater barrier for those who may have a greater need for library services,” Wasserman said in a written statement.

“Especially in tough economic times, access to public libraries are more critical than ever and eliminating late fines will certainly benefit our residents,” he said.

Any existing late fines on library user accounts will be wiped away “so patrons can start the year with a clean slate,” the district said in a statement, noting the fine removal may not be reflected on accounts until late January.

“This is one more thing we thought was a benefit to everyone,” County Librarian Jennifer Weeks said in an interview Monday.

“We did a lot of research on this and we talked to a lot of different library systems throughout the country. It’s definitely a trend we’ve seen going forward,” she said of the elimination of fines.

“Research shows people

bring things back” on their own accord for the most part, Weeks said.

Still, there are limits to how long items can be loaned out, and some fees will continue to be charged for lost or damaged items.

Under the library district’s recently enacted auto-renewal policy, any material that has been checked out and isn’t on hold from other library users requesting it will be renewed automatically if not

returned by the due date. Most loan periods are three weeks and items can be renewed up to five times, according to Weeks.

She said the extra time creates more “opportunities for people to return things when it’s safe and convenient for them,” especially during the pandemic.

However, if an item is overdue by more than four weeks after the maximum 18-week period, the library district will consider it lost and charge the user a nonrefundable lost processing fee, plus the cost of the item.

And if a library user’s card racks up a balance

of $20 in fees or more, checkout restrictions will be placed on the account, Weeks said.

The Santa Clara County Library District serves residents in Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Saratoga, and unincorporated areas of the county.

Currently, the library district is offering walk-up and curbside pickup of materials at its branches. For a full schedule, go to the library website at https://sccld.org/ curbside.