Coeur d’Alene and Lake City public libraries are going fine free for all ages as of June 3, joining a national trend and a change in policy by several other area libraries.
The Library Board of Trustees voted May 22 to eliminate overdue fines in conjunction with the Community Library Network (CLN) and review the results in one year.
“We have been fine free for children and teens this past year and have seen an uptick in children using the library as well as increased circulation of children’s materials,” said Library Director Bette Ammon. “We anticipate more people using the library. Eliminating fines can really change the way people use libraries and we’re excited about that.”
The Coeur d’Alene and Lake City public libraries will, of course, continue to track when items are checked out and the failure to return material will have consequences. If a patron has overdue items on their card they can be blocked from checking out more and from using library computers. Previously this happened when a patron’s fines reached $3.
Patrons will continue to be financially responsible for lost items.
Most library materials can be checked out for four weeks and renewed for an additional four weeks, unless another patron has placed a hold. DVDs and video games check out for one week and the checkout time for new books and other high-demand items is two weeks.
Along with the CLN libraries, Priest Lake, St. Maries, and West Bonner District libraries have also discontinued fines.