FORTVILLE — Late fees are a thing of the past at the Fortville-Vernon Township Public Library.
The library board voted last week to go fine-free — meaning patrons will never be charged late fees — and all standing late fees were wiped out.
Library materials will still have a due date that should be honored, and patrons are still responsible for lost or damaged items. Overdue notifications will continue to be sent before an account is blocked or a replacement fee is charged.
The fine-free program was brought to the board by the library’s director, Melissa Dragoo Loiselle, who had heard of the philosophy gaining steam at other libraries throughout the country.
“The American Library Association passed a resolution several years ago reaffirming that fines disproportionately affect people who are lower income and who often struggle financially, which creates larger barriers to accessing the library for them,” she said.
She pointed out that other nearby library systems have already gone fine-free, including Carmel Clay Public Library and Hamilton East Public Library.
“We’re excited to join in,” said Dragoo-Loisell, who has been director at the Fortville library for a little over a year.
Going fine-free “is something I’ve always wanted to do at a library. I was excited to bring the idea to our board,” she said.
As a former youth services librarian, Dragoo-Loisell would see underprivileged families struggle with fines and children who had fees pile up on their youth cards stuck with the fines once they turned 18.
“Suddenly they can’t use their card because they have huge fines on them, so they’re going to be less likely to want to use the library,” she said, adding that the same goes for adults who rack up their own fees for whatever reason.
“Sometimes when people have some things overdue the fines come to such a large amount that they just avoid the library altogether,” said Dragoo-Loisell.
“We want people to always feel welcome at the library. If they don’t feel comfortable coming in here, then they don’t have access to resources they might need.”
Dragoo-Loisell said research has shown that libraries actually get more items returned when fines are waived than they do when fines are intact.
“When we remove the fines and say ‘Just bring your books back,’ they bring them back because they won’t have a large financial consequence,” she said.
The director is hopeful that the new fine-free approach will motivate patrons to continue using the library, and will hopefully encourage them to return their items, even if they are a few days late.
She doesn’t anticipate the library taking a financial hit due to going fine free, either. Even when fines were collected “less than half a percent of our entire budget came from fines,” she said.
As she shared on the library’s website, “we place a higher value on removing barriers to information and library resources than the small amount of money generated from fines.”
Based on patrons’ comments on the library’s social media pages, it seems many are excited about the change to going fine-free.
At the Hancock County Public Library, the board has taken a different approach.
“We talked about going fine-free in the past, but we’ve opted to do some different things in regards to debt forgiveness instead,” said library director Dave Gray.
“One of those is our Baby Wipes program, where a person’s late fees are forgiven when they have a baby,” he said.
Another is a Food for Fines program, for which patrons can donate canned goods to pay down late fees.
While Gray said the library isn’t currently considering doing away with fines, the staff is always willing to work with patrons who express concern about being able to pay accrued fees.
“We are always willing to work with them. They just need to come in and ask,” he said.
