Siouxland Libraries to eliminate fines on overdue books

Library guilt — or maybe it’s library trauma — is real.

It’s that embarrassment people feel when they haven’t, even for valid reasons, returned library books on time. The due date has passed, and the fines are mounting up. They’re going to have to sidle up to the circulation desk and confess their slip-up, these people who take pride in always meeting their obligations.

There can be an additional stress. Even a mere dime a day can matter to low-income families working within tight financial limitations.

For those reasons and others, Siouxland Libraries in Sioux Falls and its branches across Minnehaha County will quit instituting fines on overdue books as of Dec. 1. In addition, the library board agreed last week to remove the unpaid fees that may have prevented patrons from using the libraries’ multitude of services.

Siouxland Libraries quietly removed overdue fees from children’s books in 2012 and from teen books in 2020. Now, the lack-of-fines change will be systemwide.

“It will be good for the community,” said Monique Christensen, assistant director of Siouxland Libraries. “We want our community to have access. Studies show it’s not effective having a fine. People are embarrassed … they think, oh, I might as well keep the book.”

The move isn’t the first in South Dakota. Yankton Public Library eliminated late fees several years ago. The director at that time said the library wanted to move away from punishing its users. Libraries around the country are realizing that not only do fines generate minimal sums, they also actually prevent children and lower-income individuals from checking out materials, she said.

The Edith B. Siegrist Vermillion Public Library board voted to eliminate fines at its February meeting and implemented it weeks later, said director Daniel Burniston. He praised Siouxland Libraries for also becoming fine-free. At the Vermillion library, the only fee imposed is for a book that is lost or damaged.

“Charging fines, especially small like a nickel or dime or 25 cents, doesn’t act as an incentive for most patrons to return books faster or more on time,” research has shown, Burniston said.

What fines can do is create barriers to access for low-income families, families dealing with unemployment, patrons with disabilities and senior citizens on fixed incomes. Often, parents are unaware their children have checked out books that now are overdue, and the children has no way of returning them to the library on their own.

“Children were suffering by being blocked from checking out library materials,” Burniston said. “The fines were really acting as a barrier from the community using the library. It was not an effective incentive.”

Eliminating late fees also has made conversations among library staff and patrons much easier. Not having to deal with collecting fines for 10 or 20 cents also saves staff time at the checkout desk, the Vermillion library director said.

Burniston estimates that the income generated from fines amounted to less than 1 percent of his library’s budget. Information provided by Siouxland Libraries shows that the library expected to collect less than $16,000 in fines this year. That money goes into the city of Sioux Falls general fund. They city has indicated it agrees with the library board action to eliminate fees.

Fees currently charged at Siouxland Libraries vary depending on the collection. Basic fines are 25 cents a day with a maximum of $5. Special collections with high-demand materials are $1 a day with a maximum of $10. Examples of special collections include new movies with a three-day checkout, Book Club to Go bags of books and books that are “rapid reads” and must be back in a short time.

The library also has a grace period, not charging anything for the first couple of days an item is overdue, Christensen said.

Siouxland Libraries’ staff also will save time by not having to collect fines and send out notices, Christensen said. Currently, the library sends out an email or text three days before a book is due. Late notices are sent out at seven days, 17 days and 31 days. After that, the user is billed for a lost item and blocked from checking out other materials. When an item is about 61 days overdue, and the fine reaches $50, it is sent to a collection agency.

Under the new policy, people will receive a notice three days before the item is due and then seven, 14, 21 and 31 days after the due date.

“With an extra little bit of reminders — hey, get your item back — hopefully we’ll get a better return,” Christensen said.

Siouxland Libraries director Jodi Fick has talked with Burniston about that community’s response to the change and learned it has been positive. Going fine-free is a national trend that has been increasing since about 2018.

Even though late fees currently imposed will come off gradually as staff works through the names, Fick expects to see some people insist on paying what they owe.

“We will have people who will say ‘I want to pay it,’” she predicted.

The library plans a campaign to let people know that it is going fine-free and eliminating overdue accounts. Earlier this year, the downtown library removed parking meters from its lots to the west and north of the building in another step to make usage more equitable. It was the only library branch in the system with parking meters.

Eliminating fees also eliminates an inequity between those who check out books electronically versus hard copies. People who check out electronic materials face no late fees because those items are checked in automatically. The new policy provides equity between people who check out one version of a book over another, Christensen said.

And no more library trauma. Christensen had a relative embarrassed to come back to the library since she owed $1.25. And library board chairman Lorie Hogstad told of the embarrassment she felt returning a book that she had spilled water on.

“I didn’t want to come in and tell anybody,” she said. “I walked in with a sheepish look.”