At Queens Library, Kids Pay Fines the Fun Way

Childhood has a lot of perks: free rent, weekly allowance and seemingly endless summer vacation being some of the highlights. And at the Queens Library, even grown-up problems like late fees can be made to melt away with just a few hours of pleasure reading.

Read Down Your Fines is a program that allows kids under the age of 18 to reduce the late fees they (or their shameful parents) incur on rented books and movies. For every 30 minutes spent reading - be it for school or just for fun - a dollar in fines disappears.

"It’s a good incentive," said Tina Holinski, the assistant community library manager at the . "It gets them in the library, it gets them reading, it gets them working on schoolwork."

Holinski estimates that between 12 and 20 kids visit the library to reduce their fines each month, and many have read away their debt altogether. But goof-offs beware: a librarian is constantly on hand to ensure that actual work or reading is taking place, meaning cell phone games and idle doodling won't do anything to reduce your tab. 

Participants need only show up and notify a librarian of their intention to read. The librarian will take note of how long young readers have spent with their books, and award coupons called Library Bucks in exchange. Library Bucks can be applied toward any payment owed, be it lost items or library card replacement fees.

Sorry grown-ups— like so many things, the Read Down Your Fines program is available only to kids. Go figure. 

For more information, visit the Queens Library website.