Sarasota County ends library fines
Barbara Peters Smith Opinions Editor
Sep 12, 2019 at 12:54 PM Sep 12, 2019 at 8:27 PM
Sarasota County concluded fines on overdue items discourage people from signing up for library cards.
Your public library wants you to bring your overdue books back, and check out plenty more. So the system, after a unanimous vote by Sarasota County commissioners this week, is doing away with fines.
Charging fees for the late return of books discourages people from signing up for library cards, according to a presentation on Aug. 28 by Sarabeth Kalajian, the director of county libraries and historical resources, who is retiring at the end of the month.
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"For families and individuals, the risk of incurring fines is just too great," she said. Research by her staff found that 22% of cardholders were blocked from using the library, with students especially hard-hit. A survey of other systems that have discontinued late fees found higher book return rates and greater library usage. Also, Kalajian said, too much staff time is devoted to collecting fines.
"We're spending a million dollars in staff time to collect a little over a hundred thousand dollars," Commissioner Christian Ziegler agreed.
County libraries had charged 25 cents a day for books and CDs, and $1 a day for videos and DVDs, suspending the borrower's account when fines reached $25. These fines will no longer apply, although library users will still be charged for lost or damaged materials.