Library Fines as a Barrier to Access Coty Dees Veronica Gomez Lee County Library System Hall County Library System Matthew Stembridge Jennifer Wells Ohoopee Regional Library System Cobb County Public Library System Jessica Wilson Roddenbery Memorial Library
What do we mean when we say Fines? Fines - charged for overdue library property Fees - charged for lost/damaged materials, library card replacement, printing, meeting rooms, etc...
Literature Review • Do fines go against the mission of the library? • Inequality of charging fines • Public Relations
Why do libraries charge fines? • Tradition • Revenue • Fairness • Teach responsibility
Why should we stop charging fines? • Bad Publicity • A LJ study says that 88% of people bring back their books within a week of the due date anyway • Inequality • Revenue Drop • Cost • Barrier to Use
Library System H C Case Studies Cobb County Public Library System Hall County Library System O Ohoopee Regional Library System Jeff Davis, Montgomery, Tattnall, & Toombs County De Soto Trail Regional Library System D Baker, Early, & Mitchell County R Roddenbery Memorial Library Grady County
Methodology We looked to our own libraries as examples • How many people have an active library card? • How many people in our community are living in poverty? • How many people are blocked due to $10 threshold? • What percentage of budget do collected fines represent?
Contribution of Fines to Budget • De Soto Trail - Less than 1% • Hall - 2% • Cobb - 3% • Ohoopee - 5% • Roddenbery - 10%
What can we do to replace 1%-5% of Revenue? • Fundraisers (Friends and Foundations) • New Services - Notary, Passports, Laminating, Vending, 3D Printing • Meeting Room Charges • Print Your Own Books • Grants • Funders
Ideas for steps toward fine free • Cards with Fines Forgiveness for the whole family (Marshes of Glynn Regional Library) • Clean Slate (Okefenokee Regional Library System) • Juvenile Electronic Access Cards (Twin Lakes Regional Library) • Fine Free Children and Teen collections (Dekalb County)
More Libraries in Georgia with steps toward Fine Free Roddenbery Memorial Library Fine Free Summer 2016-2018 Sequoyah Regional Library Fine Free Summer 2019 Cobb County Public Library Student PASS Program Chattahoochee Valley Libraries Fines Free
www.endlibraryfines.info
Other things you may be wondering about...
What about no fines in PINES? Checkin Fine Amnesty when items are checked-in. Point of Contact Fine Forgiveness on patron account. Catalog book-ff Physical print monographs and serials, except for print a: Language magazines or journals. Can include atlases, pamphlets, or material; t: technical reports as well as books. Does not accrue fines. Manuscript Holdable outside owning library system; age protection rules can language material. apply. “Only items with the 'book' or 'book-ff' circulation modifiers are holdable throughout the consortium. Items with all other circulation modifiers are holdable only within their own systems.”
What about our libraries?
Cobb County - Student PASS Ohoopee Regional Library System Hall County Library System De Soto Trail Regional Library System Roddenbery Memorial Library
Not every system will find the same solution Find the solution that works for you!
“Libraries can be proud of their track record to eliminate barriers to users of public libraries. We have fought for and won the right to keep controversial materials on our shelves. We have gone to great expense to ensure that those with physical handicaps are able to use our facilities. We devote time, energy, and financial resources to bringing library services to those who can’t come to us. After all this, how can we justify erecting barriers for the poor by charging fees for our services?” -Sally Gardner Reed
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