Libraries encourage celebration of Returned Borrowed Books Week
Nathan Harris's "The Sweetness of Water" is making the book club and must-read list rounds, so a timely return of the checked-out title and others like it is not only polite, it's key to library patrons' happiness. If no one is eagerly awaiting your book's return, fine-free libraries locally allow books to be out for a maximum of six weeks, up from two weeks pre-COVID.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Libraries nationwide have done away with late fees; any fines incurred for an overdue book are forgiven upon that title’s return. Some local libraries are finding the fine-free model frustrating, while others feel it encourages visitors to use the library’s resources.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
No need to swing by the library during operating hours to return books, DVDs and other items. Libraries offer outdoor bins for those who can’t make it inside, but want to return titles on time.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
During Return Borrowed Books Week, libraries remind folks that it’s better to return a book or item late than not at all. Fines are a thing of the past, but local libraries kindly remind patrons that costs will be incurred for lost or damaged items.
It’s National Return Borrowed Books Week, and while libraries nationwide share epic tales of titles, missing for decades, finding their way home to empty shelves, some local librarians just hope folks will celebrate by bringing back overdue books.
“I don’t have any amazing, feel-good stories. I just have a lot of frustration,” said Claudia Bennett, director of California Area Public Library. “I have so many items out. I just sent out a bunch of billing letters; that means something has been gone a long, long time. I just don’t understand why people won’t return things. It’s not like we charge you anymore.”
When the pandemic began three years ago, libraries nationwide put late fines on hiatus. As the nation adjusted to a post-COVID world, libraries nationally agreed to do away with late fees.
“The idea was, fines are what keeps people away,” said Bennett. “All the WAGGIN libraries went fine-free. The bill goes away when (items) are returned.”
Libraries not only got rid of fines, they also extended the borrowing period for books. Before COVID-19, books were expected back to the library within two weeks. Now, local libraries lend books in two-week increments, and busy readers may extend their lease twice before a book is marked overdue (sans fine, of course).
“You really have stuff for six weeks,” said Bennett.
More than a month seems adequate time for reading the first in the “Game of Thrones” series, or a hefty classic like “Moby Dick,” but with the doing-away of fines comes a doing-away with returning books at all. At least, that’s how Bennett feels.
“I have so many items out, most DVDs,” she said. “I have been frustrated by people not returning things. We’re a small library. I don’t really know what bigger libraries are facing.”
Bigger libraries, like German-Masontown Public Library in Masontown, aren’t facing the same level of frustration. In fact, library director Samantha Lambert, who took the helm about seven months ago, said books are being returned consistently on time.
“I can’t speak to how they used to come back,” said Lambert, “but compared to libraries I’ve worked at in the past, they come back at the same rate.”
Though the library doesn’t currently have outlandishly overdue titles, Lambert said it’s good to be aware of your book’s due date, and to return it on time.
“Bringing books back, it allows us to do what we do. A lot of the time, new bestsellers have waiting lists. We really appreciate it when patrons are responsible with their items. We’re just grateful to responsible patrons,” she said.
Nicole Mesich Mitchell, executive director of Flenniken Library in Waynesburg, said in an email her library loves returned books, too.
“There are no overdue fines anymore across the WAGGIN system,” she wrote. “So long overdue books can come back with no hefty fee.”
Fees are a thing of the past, and that’s all right with Diane Ambrose, director of Citizens Library in Washington, who said the move to fine-free keeps libraries relevant and ensures all locals have access to resources.
Aside from the occasional missing book, she’s not noticed any trend in long-past-overdue books since scrapping fines.
“Every library is different. People were very receptive to us not charging fines. They really seemed to care about returning materials. In our case, I don’t think it has really been a major problem,” Ambrose said.
Digital resources, which do not accrue fines and are always returned on time, since the borrowed item simply disappears on its due date, have become more popular in recent years.
“They have just continued to become more popular as we move past COVID and into a more digital (world),” said Ambrose. “We still see a lot of of people coming into the library – they want that book, they want a book in their hand.”
Books in hand are charming, tactile, and, in the olden days, fine-able. Going fine free, Ambrose said, encourages folks to value and patronize their community library. She said people seem to respect the transactional nature of checking out a library book.
“We don’t have to send a lot of bills. People are used to returning them,” she said. “For the most part, they do come back.”
Ambrose, like other directors, stressed that incurred fines are forgiven the moment a material is returned.
“We certainly are way past the days of trying to take people to the magistrate. People have all sorts of things going on in their lives. The last thing we want to do is make their lives more difficult. We want people to come to the library, we want people to use the library, we are here to help people get items and take them home and bring them back,” Ambrose said.