Overdue charges back at libraries this April

West Sussex Library Service is set to reintroduce overdue and reserving charges for books and other items that are borrowed on or after Friday, April 1.

The service is urging people who need to return items that are already overdue to do so before Thursday, March 31, before the charges come back in.

Overdue fees and reserving charges were suspended during the

Covid-19 pandemic but services and opening times have now returned to normal, making it easier for people to collect and return items.

“During the pandemic, our priority has been the wellbeing and safety of our residents across the county,” said Duncan Crow, West Sussex County Council Cabinet Member for Community Support, Fire and Rescue.

“To support this, libraries removed all charges and kept this in place to make sure that no one felt pressured to come out to their local library when they did not feel comfortable to do so,” he said.

Mr Crow said that now the government has published its plan for living with Covid, society has reached a point where people have to return to normal ways of working.

“Part of that is to reintroduce library charges,” he said.

“Any charges that are paid are reinvested straight back into libraries, which continues to make them the fantastic community spaces that more and more of us are getting to know and love on a daily basis,” he added.

Overdue items returned from April 1 will be charged a fee from the date that they became overdue.

Library loans can be renewed online, and many libraries have a facility for people to drop items off even when the library is closed.

For a full list of library charges and loan periods visit www.westsussex.gov. uk and search for ‘library charges’. Anyone with concerns about returning overdue items is advised to contact their local library.