Wauwatosa Library Ends Overdue Fines On Young Adult And Adult Library Materials

Press release from the City of Wauwatosa:

01/03/2023 3:50 PM

Wauwatosa Library Eliminates Overdue Fines on Young Adult and Adult Library Materials

Patrons will no longer be assessed overdue fines on young adult and adult library materials that are returned late, and existing overdue fines on those materials are being waived.

As a means to improve access to the library, the Wauwatosa Library Board made the decision that the Wauwatosa Public Library will no longer collect overdue fines on young adult and adult materials, effective January 1, 2023. The board previously eliminated fines on children’s library materials in 2019.

Our research shows that fines do not have any impact on return rates. Additionally, the American Library Association passed a resolution in 2019 that monetary fines present an economic barrier to access of library materials and services and encouraged libraries to scrutinize fines for potential barriers to access. Since eliminating fines on children’s library materials in late 2019, we have seen an increase in usage of children’s library materials, and we believe a significant part of this success was due to the elimination of fines.

Fast facts from library usage in 2021:

• The Wauwatosa Public Library ranked fifth in circulated items in the State of Wisconsin.
• Our Children’s Department was the third highest circulated in the State of Wisconsin.
• If our Children’s Library was a separate public library, it would rank 23 in circulation out of all 381 public libraries in Wisconsin.
• The amount of items checked out from the Children’s Library exceeded the total number of items checked out from any suburban library in Milwaukee County.

Patrons will no longer be assessed overdue fines on young adult and adult library materials that are returned late, and existing overdue fines on those materials are being waived.

To be clear, patrons will still be charged for unreturned items, and they won’t be able to check out any additional materials until they return the items or pay the replacement fee. The Wauwatosa Public Library sends reminders when a due date approaches and has passed. These come in the form of a text, email, or phone call, depending on your communication preferences. Those with existing overdue fines on Wauwatosa young adult or adult library materials will not have to pay those fines.

If you request an item and it comes from another library, there may still be overdue fines on that item.

Eliminating overdue fines on young adult and adult materials adds $24,000 per year to the Library's portion of the city budget. The impact of this increase on the property tax bill of an average home would be $0.94 per year, or less than 8 cents per month.

This press release was produced by the City of Wauwatosa. The views expressed here are the author’s own.