TAYLOR — All Taylor Community Library materials will no longer accrue late fees, and all previous fines from late materials from will be removed from accounts July 1.
Patrons will still have to pay the full cost of an item if it is lost or damaged. That means people still need to return everything that they check out and take care of it while it’s in their possession. Items are considered lost after three weeks.
Also, late fees will still accrue on items sent over from other libraries which still charge fines on their materials. That means items placed on hold in the shared catalog will be charged fines if returned after their due date. Customers can still renew checked out items twice, as long as no one else is waiting in line for it.
Customers should inform library staff if they have a problem with an item on their account or prior late fees have prevented them from using the library in the past. The staff is there to help everyone in the community have access to the information they need.
Fines have been a part of libraries for a large part of history, but they have always stood as a barrier for many to access materials and services. The American Library Association recently addressed the ways in which overdue fines impacted social inequality by requesting that “libraries scrutinize their practices of imposing fines on library patrons and actively move toward eliminating them.”
Source: City of Taylor