KAUKAUNA - Have no fear, library users. Late fees are a thing of the past.
At least that's the case now at the Kaukauna Public Library, the first of the Fox Cities' libraries to go fine free.
It's been library tradition for decades that users get charged a small fine each day for overdue materials. Before the start of the new year, it was 10 cents per day in Kaukauna.
The new fine-free policy, however, does away with that. Now when a book (or other item) is checked out, as long as it returns in good shape, there's no charge.
Among the reasons for the change? The dime-a-day fines don't do much to incentivize timely returns.
"If fines did work, we wouldn't have late books," said library director Ashley Thiem-Menning. "But the fact is, fining people — it doesn't work."
Instead of motivating people to get their books back to the library, Thiem-Menning said, late fees can add up and eventually prevent people from coming back. And those situations often impact the very people that most need library services.
"What we are keeping is the bills — so if you don't return something, you're going to get a bill for the cost of the replacement item or if you bring something back damaged you will get a bill for it," she said. "The end goal is to always get our materials back. But going forward we won't be nickel-and-diming people for being late on those items."
Current library users with outstanding late fees also have had their debts cleared.
Moving forward, a user has 30 days after an item's due date to get it back to the library. After 30 days, the item is considered lost and the account is charged for the price of the item. The account is then inaccessible until the bill is paid. If the item is returned, there's no need to pay the bill and the account may continue to be used as normal.
"All the libraries that have adopted a policy like this, they are seeing the same rate on return of items," Thiem-Menning said.
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The Kaukauna library, part of the Outagamie Waupaca Library System, has more than 13,700 card holders. At the end of 2019, more than 17% of card holders were blocked from accessing their accounts because of fees of more than $5.
Going fine free is a trend nationwide. The Outagamie Waupaca Library System includes more than 50 libraries and Kaukauna is the third to do away with late fees (with Birnamwood and Florence), while two others (Manawa and Clintonville) have gotten rid of late fees on children's books.
Thiem-Menning hopes the change will lead to an increase in library card applications and higher circulation numbers. So, simply put, more people using the library.
The idea came to Kaukauna thanks to a 2018 TED Talk from a librarian in La Crosse. The 14-minute presentation lays out how late fees — or even the threat of them — can become a barrier for vulnerable populations who are likely to need library services the most. Those groups include low-income residents, the elderly, youth and minorities.
Although late fees had served as a revenue source, they amount to less than 1% of the library budget. Thiem-Menning said in recent years the money collected from those fees had been on the decline, and from 2018 to 2019 dropped from about $7,500 to about $6,000.
Because of the money involved, it took months of discussion — including with library board members, the common council and the mayor — before the board voted to enact the policy effective Jan. 1.
In a statement, Mayor Tony Penterman said the city was proud to be the first in the Fox Cities to adopt such a policy.
"We have one of the most beautiful libraries in the state," he said, "and all our residents should be able to use it equitably and without barriers."
The Chicago Public Library became the largest of more than 200 municipalities nationwide to go fine free in October. Although those fines amounted to less than 1% of the library's annual budget, the Chicago library took in about $897,000 in 2018.
"I think that's going to really be fuel for the flame of fine-free policy because they are so large and libraries of that size, they're talking a lot more money in terms of revenue loss than our mid-size public library. It is a really large municipal commitment, but I think it just goes to show how community-oriented and progressive Kaukauna really is in understanding how important it is that there are no barriers to library services."
Contact Shane Nyman at 920-996-7223 or snyman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @shanenyman.
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