The Cuyahoga Falls Library has joined a growing list of library systems in the Akron area to eliminate overdue fines on books and videos.
Last week, the library implemented a policy on overdue materials adopted in December by its board of trustees. Better yet for some patrons, the library cleared existing overdue fines from borrowers’ cards.
The move follows the Akron-Summit County Public Library’s decision in March to adopt a similar policy.
Danielle Welling-Harris, marketing and public relations manager for the Cuyahoga Falls Library, said the hope is to stimulate library usage, which has occurred in other library systems with no-late-fee policies.
“When they went fine-free, they had a flood of materials (returned),” she said in a phone interview.
A farewell to fines
Libraries in Northeast Ohio and across the U.S. have increasingly gone fine-free, closing the book on a practice that began in the 19th century and became a thorn in the side of bibliophiles. For decades, the fees were applied to prod prompt return of books, then other media, like videos.
But a recognition that the fines were inhibiting rather than encouraging library usage has led a growing number of libraries to drop late fees.
A 2022 Fines and Fees survey by the Library Journal found that the percentage of libraries charging overdue fines had dropped from 92% in 2017 to 36% in 2022.
Other charges, like printing and copying fees, had also seen a decrease, from 86% to 78%.
“About half (54%) eliminated fees during the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2022, and many chose to keep this policy afterward,” the Library Journal said in its Sept. 28 report.
In January 2019, the American Library Association adopted a resolution urging its members to scrutinize their policies on fees and fines and “move towards eliminating them.”
‘It’s been a very successful move’
The Wayne County Public Library system adopted a fine-free policy in December 2019 at its main library in Wooster and six branches, including one in Doylestown.
Director Jennifer Shatzer said Thursday that she was a skeptic at first, but was convinced by positive results from the change.
“Not only did people bring the materials (back), it encouraged people to bring things back,” she said. “It also decreased the amount of negative interactions staff had with patrons.”
Shatzer said return rates have risen and, like Cuyahoga Falls and Akron-Summit County, circulations rates are increasing back toward pre-pandemic levels.
“I think it’s been a very successful move,” she said. “It’s in the spirit of what public libraries do.”
Quick return on new policy at Akron-Summit County Public Library
Akron-Summit County eliminated its late fees in March last year and saw immediate benefits.
Dana Setting, marketing communications director, said more than 6,700 people returned to active borrower status after the removal of late fees, accounting for 7.4% of the library system’s active borrower list.
Circulation in the March-June period of 2024 climbed by more than 21,000 over the same period in 2023.
“We have considered it a great success,” Setting said. “We have seen some people returning after years.”
The Cuyahoga County Public Library eliminated its fees on most overdue materials in January 2022.
‘A kind of resurgence’
The change at Cuyahoga Falls Library comes as libraries have adapted to the rapid changes in technology, such as video capability and computers.
But there’s still a segment of society that enjoys a good book — although some have swapped flipping pages for tablet screens.
“We just got in our circulation numbers for 2024,” she said. “We had over 500,000 items borrowed. Our highest circulation numbers are adult print adult book items.”
The library had 707,730 items borrowed overall in 2024, a 7% increase over 2023. More than 180,000 of that total was digital items, such as e-books, digital audiobooks, movies and music.
“The reading community as a whole has seen a kind of resurgence,” Welling-Harris said.
Leave a message for Alan Ashworth at 330-996-3859 or email him at[email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @newsalanbeaconj or Facebook at www.facebook.com/alan.newsman.
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