As part of a year-long pilot project, the Petawawa Public Library is removing fines.
All old fines will be cleared, and no late fees will be added moving forward, said Library CEO Lisa Worobec.
Friendly reminders to return the borrowed materials will be sent out, and after 30 late books, a patron will be prevented from borrowing more. Also, if an article remains in someone’s possession too long, library staff will assume the client wants to purchase it and charge accordingly. This fee will be removed in its entirety when the book, DVD, video game, snowshoes or museum pass is returned.
“But if you do want to keep it? Great,” said Worobec.
This project has been in the works for some time as the library board has been trying to eliminate all barriers to service.
Library fines have been typically used as a deterrent to late returns. But according to the Ontario Library Association (OLA), it has merely prevented people from returning if they’ve accumulated any fines. It also unfairly targeted marginalized and low to no-income people who are burdened by the costs.
As revenue from fines is a very small part of the library budget, it is an easy cut.
“We’d rather people make us of our resources,” said Worobec.
“Libraries that have done this have seen increased memberships, increased borrowing and really minimal to no impact on things coming back on time,” she added. “And getting back a lot of those old things that people didn’t want to pay fines on.”
The OLA has seen nothing but positive results from other libraries that have gone fine-free.
The Petawawa library is also exploring other ideas to remove possible barriers to access. The goal is to make the public library a community hub that everyone can enjoy.
“We’ll see how this pilot goes and see if there are any adjustments that we need to make,” said the CEO.
