BERLIN – The Worcester County Library will become a fine-free system starting next month.
In a board meeting earlier this month, Library Director Jennifer Ranck said the Worcester County Library will be the sixth system in Maryland and the fourth system in the Eastern Shore Library Consortium to adopt a fine-free policy.
“I’m very excited about this …,” she said. “We are anticipating a Nov. 1 start date, but that may change.”
As part of the fine-free policy, Ranck said library patrons will not be charged for overdue materials. She noted, however, that the policy will implement replacement charges for damaged items and items not returned three weeks after the due date.
“After three weeks of not returning the book, after the due date, they will get a bill for the item,” she said. “Of course, we don’t want people to have hundreds of dollars in overdue bills. What we do want is the item back. That bill is what’s going to block their account for checking things out. That’s going to be our check.”
Ranck said the policy is meant to ensure books are returned to the library.
“I think people will want to know ‘Why did you make this decision? Does that mean I don’t have to return items anymore?’” she said. “Of course, that’s not the case.”
With increased usage of eBooks, library computers and internet access, as well as educational classes offered by the library, officials said overdue fines represent a unique deterrent on library patrons using paper books. By removing fines, the Worcester County Library furthers its mission to promote reading, thinking, learning, and the enjoyment of the arts.
Ranck added that the Worcester County Library is no stranger to fine-free policies. Several years ago, the library eliminated fines on children’s items.
“This isn’t a huge leap for us, but I do think it’s a wonderful thing that we’re doing,” she said.
The library currently charges 10 cents a day for overdue library books, but fine receipts are less than 0.4% of the library’s annual budget. With the new policy, books checked out from the Worcester County Library will not have fines.
“The automatic renewals we have will still be in place unless that title is on hold for somebody else,” Ranck said. “So if it’s a popular James Patterson book it will definitely have a checkout period and they’ll need to give it back.”
Ranck said the library is hoping to notify patrons of overdue books using email and mailing addresses.
“As soon as that book is one day overdue, an overdue notice is going to be kicked out to your email,” she said. “And then we’ll do it again at seven and 14 days. On that 21st day, you are going to get an email with a bill for the book. It can be mailed if you don’t have an email.”
While the hope is to transition to the fine-free policy by Nov. 1, Ranck said the timeline could change.
