Reports on the Elimination of Late Fees at Auckland Libraries and the Vancouver Public Library

1. Auckland: Two Years After Removing Late Fees, Librarians Happy With Change (via Radio New Zealand)

Two years ago Auckland Libraries removed its fines for late returns.

Since then, more than a million items have been returned after their due date, meaning millions of dollars of potential fines going unclaimed.

But despite the loss of revenue, librarians say it has been an overwhelmingly positive change.

Auckland Library members can borrow up to 35 items at any one time. Even for the most voracious of readers, that is a big stack of books to get through.

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2. A Year After Vancouver Public Library Eliminated Fines, Here’s How Many Books are Now Overdue (via Vancouver Sun)

A year after granting amnesty to patrons who didn’t return borrowed items on time, the Vancouver Public Library reports a slight increase in the number of book-hoarding scofflaws.

Although waiving late fees represents hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in lost revenue, library officials say this story is not a tragedy, but one with a happy ending.

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“The impact on our bottom line has been negligible from a financial perspective,” the VPL’s manager of marketing and communications Scott Fraser wrote in an emailed statement. The lost revenue from overdue fines represents about one per cent of the VPL’s total budget of $59 million.

“From a social benefit perspective, the impact has been very positive. We have received many positive comments from patrons who now feel more welcome to use the library and express gratitude for the fine-free service.”

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See Also: Coverage From Vancouver is Awesome

Filed under: Libraries, News, Patrons and Users, Public Libraries, Reports