Greenwich — The days of fines for overdue books at the Greenwich Library are becoming a thing of the past.
The new policy eliminating fines will go into effect on Monday at the main building in downtown Greenwich and the Byram and Coscob branches. Additionally, late fines have also been removed, said Kevin McCarthy, director of the independent Perrott Memorial Library in Old Town Greenwich.
Eliminating the fines “removes the financial burden that may have been blocking access” to the use of the library and its annexes, officials said, allowing all town residents, students and employees to access the library’s resources. It said it aims to “increase access” to .
In addition, all currently outstanding fines will be removed from your account and no future fines will be charged for books, DVDs, CDs or any other Greenwich Library collection.
Fines collected from overdue materials have steadily declined in recent years, said Barbara Ormerod Glynn, director of the Greenwich Library. More and more patrons are bringing out digital items such as e-books. Digital items are automatically returned on due date with no penalties.
“The movement to waive fines has been gaining momentum for years,” says Ormerod-Glynn. “Before the pandemic, the American Library Association passed a resolution calling fines ‘a form of social injustice. We watched closely what our fines were doing. ”
The fines “didn’t bring in a lot of money, but they may have alienated patrons because they were embarrassed that their accounts were fined, or because they couldn’t pay past due balances.” “Neither reason should be a barrier to access.”
The New York Public Library, along with public libraries in Boston, Chicago, Seattle and San Diego, as well as hundreds of smaller systems around the country, have eliminated fines, Ormerod-Glynn said.
The idea gained momentum at the start of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, she said. Because the materials were distributed in a contactless manner and fines were temporarily waived at the time.
“During this time, the fine waiver movement continued to gain momentum across the country, and staff and board members began seriously considering policy changes,” Ormerod-Glynn said. “This initiative took about a year to plan.”
She said studies point to accumulation of fines for materials as a reason low-income families and other individuals stop using public libraries.
“The practice is ineffective and confusing among library users,” said Peggy Eddersheim Kalb, chairman of the Greenwich Library’s board of trustees. “It causes needless anxiety and does not support the library’s primary mission of being a portal to knowledge and resources for all.”
Moira Danehy, manager of lending services at the Library of Greenwich, said she hopes the new policy will encourage patrons with inactive accounts to reactivate their cards, which can be done online or in person at the library. I was.
“We believe this new policy is the best course of action and hope that it encourages everyone to take advantage of the library and all that we have to offer.
If this brings in more library patrons, more books in the hands of readers, and more people attracted to library programs, “it’s just not worth it for our community as a whole,” Ormerod said. – says Glynn.
Library patrons are eligible for replacement fees even if something they’ve checked out is damaged or lost, she said.
Additionally, the library will continue to charge fines with its Museum Pass program, which provides passes to regional museums such as the Bruce Museum, Stanford Museum and Nature Center, Intrepid, and the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
These passes are borrowed from the main desk for 3 days with a late fine of $1 per day.
With no fines, patrons may keep material out for long periods of time, especially when it comes to new releases with waiting lists, but Ormerod-Glynn isn’t worried about that. said.
“We know that sometimes things happen and books and other materials are returned past their due dates,” she said. We trust that they will respect our materials and fellow community members.”
For more information or questions about the new policy, please email lendingservices@greenwichlibrary.org.
kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
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