Thank you to those who gave their thoughts on libraries eliminating fines. Below are the responses I received. We at Wolverine have been fine free for years and we love it. We actually get more books back than we did when we charged fines. It doesn't matter how little the fine is, if they owe they will not bring them in as much. I am so glad we did it. Wolverine Library _____________________________________________________________________ My board has discussed it and it would mean a loss of about $8000 each year in our budget. That is a significant loss for our library being a small rural library. White Cloud Library _____________________________________________________________________ No plans to go fine free ---we're a small class IV library, with a small budget. Fines amount to about $6500 of our budget and that is not including lost and paid items. We do work with our patrons and will often settle for 50% of what they owe on a case by case basis. _____________________________________________________________________ Hi Alycia, I am interested to see your responses. We decided at our last board meeting to go fine free and the board will do a vote once the final wording of the policy change is submitted at the next board meeting. We decided to do this for "good will" more than anything else. We think it will be seen as a positive step by our patrons and community. We also didn't think that a $.20 a day fine up to $2.00 was much of a deterrent to not having book returned on time. Our serial overdue patrons are not deterred by the fine and the others who constitute most of our overdue materials didn't intend to be late and are (as you know) very apologetic, so we really don't feel it necessary to fine them. Leland Township Public Library _____________________________________________________________________ We still have fines but we switched ILS and the new system sends text reminders and our fines have gone way down. _____________________________________________________________________ Alycia, You may be interested in this webinar. Registration link is http://go.sirsidynix.com/Removing-Barriers-to-Access-SD-Webinar.html The following SLC libraries are fine free or partially fine free. Dickinson County Library doesn't charge fines Portage Lake DL stopped charging fines in June Munising Sch/Public Library only charges fines for videos Devereaux Memorial Library doesn't charge fines for juvenile and teen materials - Peter White Public Library stopped charging fines for juvenile and teen materials this spring on a trial basis I hope that this information helps! _____________________________________________________________________ Not fine free here- We seriously thought about it but decided the taxpayers wouldn't like the idea- just the nature of our clientele- people should be responsible!:) So we lowered the fines and made it much easier for people with big fines to get right with the library once. (one time 20.00 for all the books you lost back when you were in high school.) We're making less money but more friends! I think it was a good compromise. Hart Area Public Library _____________________________________________________________________ Hi, We were the other way around. We were fine free until October 2017 then we started charging fimes. Here is what I noticed now that we charge fines. 1. We do get more books back in a more timely manner 2. People have said that they where not coming in now that we have fines because they have a late fee and couldn't pay it so they dropped their books in the drop box. 3. Before late fees people would come in with the book and be able to take out a new book right away. 4. before late fines Kids didn't feel as bad bring back late books because they knew they weren't going to be charged a late fee. But I also think kids need to somehow be held accountable for bring back their books late.(that is a whole different can of worms). FYI... The quickest way I have found to get books back whether you have fines or no fines is withholding computer priviledges. Kids seem to find their books real quick!! We are a very small library (800 people) so the amount we make on late fees is not much. Richmond Township Library _____________________________________________________________________ Hi Alycia, This is something that has been on our radar for a while now, but all our staff meetings take so long that we never get around to discussing it, LOL! I found a few journal articles that address it, and IIRC, there is not a consensus: it works in some places and not in others. I would be very interested in seeing the responses you get, particularly if replies indicated whether they came from a public library vs a college library. _____________________________________________________________________ Alycia - We are not a fine free library (yet) but one of my board members has been supportive of this for a long time. It is something we may pursue next FY. I am interested in hearing what your responses are. _____________________________________________________________________ Hi Alycia-- I've proposed going fine free to my board and they're actually pretty much in favor of it, as we collect not-so-much annually. They always like other opinions, though, beyond journal articles so I'd love it if you'd let me know what you find out. Thanks, Alycia McKowen Library Director St. Ignace Public Library St. Ignace, MI P: 906-643-8318