The Soldotna City Council will be discussing an action memorandum to discuss eliminating library fees. It will be introduced during the City Council meeting on Wednesday, August 12.
The memorandum, written by Rachel Nash, City Librarian, and presented by City Manager Stephanie Queen, recommends that Joyce K. Carver Memorial Soldotna Public Library cease charging late fines for all materials owned by the library.
The memo states:
Fines and fees have traditionally been used by libraries to encourage patrons to return library materials in a timely manner. For instance, in fiscal year 2020, Soldotna Library staff collected approximately $10,300 of fines and fees for overdue and lost or damaged materials. However, recent studies show that overdue fines are not effective in encouraging the timely return of library materials, but instead become a barrier that prevents low income individuals and families from accessing library resources.
In 2019, the American Library Association approved the “Resolution on Monetary Library Fines as a Form of Social Inequity” which encourages libraries to “actively move towards eliminating” fines. Public libraries across the United States that have gone fine free have documented increases in returned materials, library card registration, and borrowed materials. Staff are able to refocus their time and talents away from collecting fines and towards helping their community members.
Dawn Wacek, Youth Services Manager at the La Crosse Public Library in La Crosse, Wisconsin, has been a leader in the nationwide movement towards dropping library fees: “Fines don’t actually work to do what we think they do. The debate about fines, whether we should fine, how much we should fine, it isn’t new. We’ve been talking about it for almost 100 years, as long as that book was overdue. Study after study has shown that the reason libraries fine is because of strongly held beliefs about the effectiveness of getting materials back on-time, backed by no evidence. Basically, we fine because we’ve always fined. So, the best option for your libraries is to put their mission first, and they will do that if their community members ask it of them.”
Action Memorandum 2020-015 follows recommendations from the American Library Association.
Although City Hall is open to the public, interested persons are encouraged to attend the meeting remotely via Zoom. Alternatively, folks can join join via telephone at (877) 853-5257 or (888) 475-4499. The Webinar ID to use in either method is: 845 1108 3895.