Library Fines as a Barrier to Access Coty Dees Veronica Gomez Lee - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Library Fines as a Barrier to Access

Coty Dees

Lee County Library System

Veronica Gomez

Hall County Library System

Matthew Stembridge

Ohoopee Regional Library System

Jennifer Wells

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 Case Studies

Cobb County Public Library System Hall County Library System Ohoopee Regional Library System

Jeff Davis, Montgomery, Tattnall, & Toombs County

De Soto Trail Regional Library System

Baker, Early, & Mitchell County

Roddenbery Memorial Library

Grady County

H C D O R

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?

“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.”

book-ff Physical print monographs and serials, except for print magazines or journals. Can include atlases, pamphlets, or technical reports as well as books. Does not accrue fines. Holdable outside owning library system; age protection rules can apply. a: Language material; t: Manuscript language material.

Checkin

Fine Amnesty when items are checked-in.

Point of Contact

Fine Forgiveness on patron account.

Catalog

What about

• ur 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