debate against paying fine ?
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For more than a century, libraries around the world have been collecting money for overdue books and other borrowed items not returned on time. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the world’s largest fine paid for an overdue library book was $345.14, the amount Emily Canellos-Simms presented to Kewanee Public Library in Illinois after returning a book she found in her mother’s house 47 years after its 1955 due date.
A January 2017 Library Journal survey revealed that 92 percent of libraries in the United States charge fines and fees. Overdue fines range from 17 cents a day to a maximum of $5 to $10 to cover the cost of replacement. Most libraries suspend borrowing privileges when fines reach the maximum threshold. In addition, libraries typically charge fees for printing, photocopying, faxing, scanning, 3D printing and replacing lost library cards. On average, fines and fees generate about one and a half percent of a library’s operating budget.
“We use the funds — $71,000 collected from fines annually — as part of our operating budget,” Jenny Paxson, a reader’s advisory librarian at Webster Public Library in New York, tells American Libraries. “Without them it would be difficult to run the library.”
Late fees have been said to encourage returns, thus putting library materials back into circulation for others to use. Some view fines as a small price to pay for breaking the library’s social contract — gentle reminders that libraries are providing a valuable service that should not be taken for granted.
“The charging of token library fines is a way to communicate to the public that libraries matter,” says Su Epstein, Library Director at Saxton B. Little Free Library in Columbia, Connecticut (Public Libraries Online). “Fines are a tangible reminder of the patron’s responsibility, the library’s importance, and the consideration of others.”
In recent years, however, some libraries have eliminated late fees for teen and children’s materials. Others are abolishing overdue fines altogether. The Urban Libraries Council has published an interactive map showing U.S. libraries that have gone “fine-free.” These include San Jose Public Library, Denver Public Library, Nashville Public Library, Columbus Metropolitan Library in Ohio, and the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore.
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