Effective immediately, the Traverse Area District Library (TADL) will no longer charge fines on overdue children’s and teen items. In an important move to support literacy and equity, the TADL Board of Trustees unanimously approved the elimination of overdue fines for Juvenile and Young Adult materials. Eliminating overdue fines on youth and teen items will increase library access for children, teens, and families. Research has shown that overdue fines are ineffective as a way to motivate people to return books on time, but instead create a barrier for children and families to use the library. TADL Board of Trustees Vice President, Micheal Vickery, hopes that the elimination of overdue fines for youth and teen items will encourage some conversations at home about responsible stewardship of common resources. “Library materials are a shared community resource, so our goal is to encourage patrons to return overdue materials and to continue using the incredible resources of the district libraries,” said Vickery. “We don’t want young patrons to lose access to the value of the libraries just because an item they’ve checked out is overdue.” As a part of this change, past fines currently owed for late Juvenile and Young Adult materials will be forgiven. Youth and Teen materials will still have due dates, and as always, patrons will be responsible to return books on time and to pay for replacement costs if an item is lost or destroyed. For more information about Borrowing Privileges or Lending Periods <https://www.tadl.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/3.21-Fines-and-Lending-Periods-2019-12-19-signed.pdf> for TADL, stop by any Service Desk at one of six community library locations or visit tadl.org for details. ### Matthew Wiliford Marketing & Communications Manager Traverse Area District Library 610 Woodmere Avenue Traverse City, MI 49686 231.932.8501 | www.tadl.org