Library to go fine-free starting in June

Press Release

Overdue fines will become a thing of the past starting on June 15 at the Bartholomew County Public Library.

At their May 14 meeting, the Bartholomew County Public Library Board adopted a new circulation policy that states in part, “BCPL recognizes that overdue fines are a barrier to users in our community. In an effort to reduce that barrier, we do not assess overdue fines for items that are late.”

”While overdue fines were always meant to be an incentive to encourage patrons to bring their books back, the research indicates that they simply do not. Instead, fines just serve to deter people from returning items for fear of retribution or they lack the ability to pay,” explains Jason Hatton, Library Director.

The circulation policy also reads:

“Bartholomew County Public Library promotes responsible lifelong library use with minimal barriers to facilitate fair and equitable sharing of the community's collections. This policy is designed to encourage users to keep their accounts in good standing so they may continue to borrow and return materials. Abuse of circulation privileges will result in the suspension of library privileges.”

Hatton states, “The idea of a public library is to purchase materials as a community and then share those items with each other. We only care about getting our materials back in a timely manner so that they can move on to the next person.”

Overdue notices will still be sent via email or US Mail. Lost and damaged items remain the responsibility of the library user. Patrons will not be able to checkout new items if they have any lost items on their account. Items will automatically get set to lost 21 days after they are due. The library will still use the service of a collection agency when an item is 45 days overdue. When an account is submitted to collections, the library will add a $10 fee.

Library users can borrow books, audio books, magazines, and music CDs for three weeks; movies and non-fiction DVDs for seven days; TV series for fourteen days, and eDevices for twenty-one days. With the exception of eDevices, materials can be kept longer by renewing them, if no one else is in line for the item.

“I think this policy change will be more welcoming for everyone and will positively change the dynamic of interactions between library staff and our patrons,” said Assistant Director, Angela Eck.

“We are excited to turn a new page and hope that these changes will make library use easier for our community. If you have not been to the library for a while due to concern about overdue fines, please come back. We genuinely want you to use your library and to have a great experience here,” says Hatton.