[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Wizard asked: please tell us your position on library fines vis-a-vis the budget.
Samantha Smart: My position on library fees and fines is to oppose them, in accordance with the American Library Association's Policy # 61 on removing barriers to access for poor people at the library.
Thank you so much, Samantha, you would get my vote on that alone. This
issue is a big one for me, personally, just from behaviors I've observed
in public libraries around the country. First, libraries who negotiate
fines with patrons get their books back. If a book cost the library $50
to buy, plus cost of cataloging, it's more cost effective and user
neutral than demanding the fine. Policy at MPL says you may not borrow
any more books if you're fine is over $X until you pay it down to $5 and
bring back the books you have overdue. The other thing I observed is
that the parents of kids who run up fines sometimes abuse the child
verbally and/or physically for having created a fine. That's hard to
stomach and while one would suppose that the abuse is related to low
household income, that isn't the only cause.
Library systems that bring in lots of money through fines sometimes get
to eyeing that little pile of revenue and build dreams of what could be
if ALL fines were collected. Pretty soon they're dependent on a certain
level of fines being collected and looking for ways to increase that
revenue stream. The only progressive way is to build library patronage,
but no, libraries sometimes do hair-raisingly stupid things--like one
library raising juvenile fines 400% or better--instead and miss the obvious.
You do have a good grasp of the depth of this issue.
Thank you for this post, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Other library board candidates, could you weigh in on this?
WizardMarks, Central
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