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Manatee County libraries no longer charging late fees

Louis Llovio
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The South Manatee Branch Library.

Most anybody who’s taken a book out of the library knows the feeling. You get to the front desk and find out there’s a late fee from the last batch of books you dropped off.

If you’re one of those people who’s just scraping by, all you can do in that situation is apologize to your kids, put everything they just picked out back on the shelves and go home empty-handed.

At Manatee County libraries, that’s no longer going to be the case.

The County Commission approved a measure last month to eliminate fines for overdue books and other materials.

Tammy Parrott, assistant library service manager for the Manatee County Library System, said $50,790.92 in outstanding overdue fines were owed at the time the decision was made.

More:Thousands of Sarasota County kids can check out library books again

More:Removal of late fines brings surge in patrons at Sarasota libraries

“The amount waived is just a fraction of a percent of our operating budget,” Parrott said.

All overdue fines that were on people’s accounts before Nov. 16 have been removed.

Parrot said the county will get some of the money back by not having to collect fines. But how much is unclear because the library system doesn’t track the cost of collecting overdue fines, she said.

Manatee joins more than 400 library systems across the country that have gotten rid of late fees. Among those are libraries in Sarasota County, which made the move last year, Alachua County, Citrus County, Palm Beach County and Tampa-Hillsborough.

Manatee, on its website, said one of the main reasons to do away with the fines is to make sure people still have access to the resources the library system offers including “free technology, literacy and lifelong learning.”

“Overdue fines can create a significant barrier to library use, especially for minors and those with limited financial resources,” the county said.

The American Library Association declared last year that library fines are “a form of social inequity” and that they “ultimately do not serve the core mission of the modern library.”

The Palmetto Branch Library in Manatee County.

Manatee said that library systems that have gone fine-free have seen increases in the number of new cards issued and items taken out as well as more students returning and staff spent less trim handling fines.

In February, Sarasota County records showed that almost 300 people who had owed fines returned to the library in the five months since the fees were eliminated, and 7,796 new library cards were issued.

While overdue fees are gone from Manatee libraries, the library will still charge fees in several cases, including for lost, unreturned or damaged items and library cards for non-residents.

And a person’s borrowing privileges can be suspended if something is not returned or if the replacement cost isn’t paid.

“Although revenue will no longer be received from payment of overdue fines, Manatee County has decided it is far more valuable to the community to increase access to library collections,” the county said on the system’s website.
https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/local/manatee/2020/11/20/manatee-county-libraries-no-longer-charging-late-fees/3765669001/
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