SOUTH JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — Libraries in Burlington County will start forgiving late fees for overdue books starting on July 1.
Late fees can stack up and prevent people from visiting the library, especially low-income families. And, officials say, these fees disproportionately affect low-income families.
“For customers and families that are struggling, it became a real access and equity issue,” said Ranjna Das, director of the Burlington County Library System. “It was not meant to disproportionately affect them, but it ended up being that way.
“Over time, it really took on this punitive measure, and we felt that the community was also looking at it as a punitive measure.”
While the county is eliminating late fees, it is not eliminating fees for books not returned at all.
“We do an automatic renewal so the customer doesn’t have to log into their account to renew those items,” said Das. “So you kept the book for three months possibly, we will be offering a seven-day grace period. Once that seven-day grace period is over, the items will be due back, of course, but then we’ll charge a lost fee.”
The lost fee is forgiven once the book is returned, and all the late charges will be eliminated as well.
Das said late fees have been about 1% of the library budget, so the new policy won’t financially strain the system.