Library eliminates fines for books, other overdue items
People who owe the Longmont Public Library money for overdue items can breathe easy.
The city announced last week that the library will no longer charge fines for overdue books, DVDS, board games and other materials including from the Library of Things collection and Experience & Destination Bags.
Fines that have already been accrued for overdue items have also been removed from the system.
The decision was recommended by library staff, endorsed by the Longmont Library Board and “essentially signed off on” by the City Council, Longmont Library Director Jon Solomon said in an email Friday.
Councilwoman Susie HidalgoFahring, who is the Council liaison to the Library Board, said discussions
about possibly canceling overdue fines had been going on even before Solomon started in November.
“We think about … who are the most impacted by these fines. Well, the people who can least afford it,”
Hidalgo- Fahring said.
The Longmont Library previously charged 10 cents a day for most overdue items, according to the city’s website.
However, materials from its Library of Things collection
such Gopro Cameras, microscopes and metal detectors accrued $ 20 late fees per day, for up to seven days.
“I feel like it should’ve been done a while ago,” HidalgoFahring said of doing away with fines for overdue materials.
The Lafayette Public Library did just that, having eliminated fines for overdue items in January 2020.
Lafayette Library Director Melissa Hisel said that such fines often prevented people, especially children, from checking out materials.
“With little kids, they need lots of books. They need lots and lots of picture books and those fines add up really quickly,” Hisel said. “A couple days late … there’s your cell phone bill or part of your car insurance, or something, and that was really a barrier to getting those books into the kids’ homes.”
Although Hisel did not have the numbers directly in front of her when reached by phone Friday, she did say that more children and families had utilized the Lafayette Public Library since its overdue fines were dropped.
Instead of issuing fines, the Lafayette Public Library blocks accounts with items that are two or more weeks overdue.
“We really want people in our community to read more books,” Hisel said. “We don’t need to make it harder.”
At the Longmont Public Library, individuals are still responsible for any fines they owe to outside lending services such as Prospector or Interlibrary Loans.
Charges for any damaged or lost materials will still be assessed, too.
If an individual owes $ 10 or more for a lost item, or items, they will not be allowed to check out anything else until they rectify their bill.
T he Longmont Public Library was owed approximately $ 91,000 in overdue fines, according to Solomon.
The balance was accrued over the span of many decades, he said.