It’s not all fine: Trafford remove all late fees from 1st April
Editorial
Trafford has shocked the UK public library world by announcing that they will be removing all library fines from 1st April. The reasons put forward for that by councillors is that fines are off-putting for customers, no fines will increase usage (and indeed will increase returns as people know they won’t get fined if they’re late) and that there should not be any barriers to accessing libraries. Children were especially mentioned as benefitting from no fines and Trafford will also be giving a library card to every child. One suspects as well that it will be a nice thing to say the council has done if local elections are coming up.
This is not the first library service in England to remove fines – Rutland does not have fines and I understand from Twitter that there’s one or two in Scotland (West Lothian and West Dunbartonshire) – but it is the first major (sorry Rutland) or metropolitan library service in England to go down this route and so will inevitably be noticed more. It also ties in with a global trend I’ve been noticing for a while (especially in the USA and Australia) where libraries have been removing fine due to it being a barrier (after all, we’ve removed physical ones years ago), inequitable and no longer needed now we have the power to automatically online renew.
The big barrier to this in the UK is of course where the money is going to come from if we get rid of fines. Charging people for late books does bring in some money that will need to be replaced in another way. There’s also – no surprise in the library world this – a fundamental lack of research of shared data on how effective removing fines are. We need that evidence shared in order to spread good practice and identify bad. Personally, I am tired of seeing people arguing over fines in libraries and I know that fines are a reason people tell me socially they no longer use libraries. So I really hope this is a successful experiment. And an experiment that produces what a good experiment always does: actual shareable data on the result.
Changes
- Northamptonshire – Under threat libraries given one more year of funding.
- Rhondda Cynon Taff – Mountain Ash Library may move into co-location in community centre.
- Trafford – To cease all library fines from 1st April. All children to be given a library card and BookStart book.
- Warrington – Great Sankey Neighbourhood Hub (combined leisure centre/library) opens next week.
National news
- CLPE and BookTrust to review BAME representation in kids’ books – BookSeller. “The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) is teaming up with BookTrust to review ethnic representation in children’s literature. CLPE is launching an initiative called “reflecting realities” and will look at the representation of BAME characters in children’s books.”
- Councils Face 20% Fee Hike To Bail Out Carillion Deals – Huffington Post. “PWC, which is overseeing Carillion’s liquidation, is demanding local authorities stump up on average 20% extra for contracts such as library services and construction work as the Official Receiver attempts to claw back the firm’s losses, according to the Local Government Association (LGA).”
- Welsh Librarian of the Year Award 2018. Nominations open – CILIP. “Past winners of the award have all made a demonstrable impact on their service and to their community, as well as displaying commitment to the profession itself. “
Local news by authority- Croydon – Why do Croydonians still commute to work? – Croydon Citizen. “As Croydon’s reputation as a Tech City grows, so, too, do the amount of workspaces in the area. Places like TMRW, the Sussex Innovation Centre, and the Business Xchange Hub all offer hotdesking options where you can drop in and grab an inexpensive desk amongst other professionals who are working remotely. Or, why not make Croydon’s libraries relevant again and set up shop there with your laptop?”
- Leicestershire – Pub near Melton starts new chapter with library opening – Melton Times. 1300 books, free library ticket for 3 loans at a time and anyone who does not return a book gets their name written on a “name and shame” board.
- Norfolk – Thank your lucky stars for libraries – Eastern Daily Press. “During these gloomy winter days, keep your spirits up in the library and thank your lucky stars that such wonderful places exist as the centre of our communities”
- Northamptonshire – Northamptonshire councillors ‘appalled’ by finances – BBC. “Revisions to the planned budget, announced on Monday, included a stay of execution for under-threat library services. The council will continue to provide financial support to libraries for another “transition year” before community-managed libraries are established in April next year.”
- Rhondda Cynon Taff – Mountain Ash Library could move to council’s first community hub– Wales Online. “Mountain Ash Day Centre will house an advice service, community cafe, bookable rooms and the library – all under one roof” … “Mountain Ash Library could move to a community hub also housing an advice service, community cafe and bookable rooms under one roof, it has been announced.”
- Trafford – Motion Submitted by the Conservative Group – Trafford Libraries – Trafford Council. All library fines to be abolished from 1st April.
- Warrington – First look inside the new Great Sankey Neighbourhood Hub – Warrington Guardian. “This is far more than a leisure centre. The Hub will provide a fantastic community library, as well as a range of cultural, health and wellbeing services. I’m especially pleased that it is a dementia-friendly building – providing modern and accessible facilities for the local population.””
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about 6 years ago
Re fines – An alternative approach is to help users avoid fines by reminding them that the return date for a book is coming up soon.
I’m surprised that only around 10% of UK Library Authorities subscribe to the ‘Library ELF’ software. Elf is a web-based tool that enables users to keep track of their library borrowings. The user signs up to ELF and sets their personal reminder timing – say 3 days before the return date. Reminder emails are then sent 3 days before an item is due for return.
I use Library ELF it for my library books and renew online if necessary. It works a treat.
about 6 years ago
It long ago occurred to me that library fines are only brought into the equation because people always take money seriously and the possibility of having to pay (for misusing an otherwise free service) will help ensure that books come back. Every library I have ever worked in that gave a fines amnesty got dozens of horrible out-of-date books back, mostly long since written off, which we just threw away. Trafford will now lose a lot of stock because all Librarians know that when people have many overdue books, they just never come back to the library (deliberate thief or not). All librarians will also have waived many fines when the reader gave a reasonable excuse for books being late back. We’re not trying to raise revenue with overdue fines, just making sure the taxpayers’ money spent on library books won’t be wasted!
about 6 years ago
It may be harsh to pick on the good experience of the last comment, but surely the success of a fine amnesty is in returning readers to the library, not the value of the books returned? Dismissing it as resulting in out of date books, seems to place more importance on the stock than actually having users.
And then to follow up with the assumption Trafford will lose stock because “Librarians know that when people have many overdue books, they just never come back to the library”. That’s what they’re trying to stop. We don’t have to accept that as soon as people go overdue with some books they just never come back. They don’t currently come back, but that’s cos they have loads of money to pay.
I can easily imagine that with no fines, more items will go overdue on average. But also that more will be returned overall. And there will be more active borrowers than there would have been. That seems to be something worth doing.
In terms of making sure taxpayers money is not wasted, library usage is much lower than it should be and the whole community doesn’t seem to be served. There will be many reasons for that, but removing barriers and obvious reasons for why people stop using libraries seems sensible. Not just protecting the service for a small number of ‘good’ users, and the ones who don’t particularly mind fines.