By Jessica Zellers
Director, T. B. Scott Free Library
Starting Nov. 17, T. B. Scott Free Library is going fine-free. This means no more late fines for overdue materials, and existing fines will be purged from T. B. Scott patron records.
While T. B. Scott Free Library is the first local library to eliminate late fines, this change follows a nationwide trend set by New York Public Library, Madison Public Library, and others. Late fines present a barrier to the most vulnerable in our community, including children, the elderly, and the disabled: the very people who need the library the most. And, surprisingly, late fines are not very effective in getting people to return materials on time.
Patrons will still be financially responsible for lost and damaged materials, and if an item is more than 30 days overdue, the library will assume it to be lost and charge accordingly. There are also a small number of nontraditional circulating items that will still accrue late fines, such as the telescope and the sewing machine. But no longer will books and movies rack up charges if they come back late.
Late fines represent less than one half of one percent of the library’s annual operating budget, so the overall financial impact will be minimal. The library hopes to recover the difference with donations.
In conjunction with going fine-free, the library will be running a food drive. We invite patrons to help others in the community by grabbing an extra non-perishable item at the store and bringing it to the library. The food drive will run from Nov. 16 to Nov. 30, with all donations going to the Merrill Community Food Pantry.