JOHN EADS: Doing this is going to be much less stressful for people in Onondaga County. This is because the county’s public libraries are no longer charging fines for overdue items. The hope is that this policy change will enhance the public’s perception of libraries.
CHRISTIAN ZABRISKIE: People often think of libraries as being very transactional, you come in, you get a book, you bring it back, you bring it back late we charge you for it. It’s actually a lot more nuanced now, we have a lot more frontline engagement and we’re rally trying to get away from this kind of transactional concept of what our services are.
EADS: The library will lose a couple thousand dollars in revenue without the consistent overdue fees but Zabriskie says that missing money has no importance in the grand scheme of things.
ZABRISKIE: We’re not supposed to be a profit making institution, we’re a non-profit. We’re supposed to serve the public so getting into dollars and cents that I’m pulling off the back of Kenisha who’s a 12-year old in Mundy, we’re not doin it right if that’s where we’re goin.
EADS: So Onondaga County Libraries only recently started to waive late fees. But here at the Jamesville-Dewitt Community Library, they’ve implemented this policy for the past nine months and the feedback has been very positive.
CHARLES DIEDE: We have seen a lot of happiness on the part of patrons to have one less thing they need to worry about whether the materials they checked out are due on Monday or on Thursday, they can simply bring them back when they need to and not worry about racking up any fines.
EADS: Along with the cutting of overdue fees moving forward, any outstanding fees at the 25 libraries comprising the Onondaga County public library system are also being waived. Auburnpub.com says that over 26,000 patrons will benefit from not having to pay about $283,000.
ZABRISKIE: This kind of decision is just our way of sayin we believe in you to our patrons and to our users and our community and we hope they’ll come back to us and let us help them.
EADS: Fees for lost or damaged items will still be charged. To find your local public library head over to www.onlib.org, Reporting from Syracuse, I’m John Eads, NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Onondaga County recently announced that it will no longer enforce overdue fees at its public library’s. Additionally, about $283,000 in outstanding fines will be waived which benefits 26,000 patrons in Central New York. Christian Zabriskie, the executive director of Onondaga County’s public library system, hopes this policy change will positively change the public’s perception on library’s.
“People often think of libraries as being very transactional, you come in, you get a book, you bring it back, you bring it back late we charge you for it,” Zabriskie said. “It’s actually a lot more nuanced now, we have a lot more frontline engagement and we’re rally trying to get away from this kind of transactional concept of what our services are.”
The library will lose a couple thousand dollars in revenue with this policy change but Zabriskie said earning money is not the objective.
“We’re not supposed to be a profit making institution, we’re a non-profit,” Zabriskie said. “We’re supposed to serve the public so getting into dollars and cents that I’m pulling off the back of Kenisha who’s a 12-year old in Mundy, we’re not doin it right if that’s where we’re goin.”
The Jamesville-Dewitt Community Library started waiving late fees nine months ago. Charles Diede, the Executive Director of the Library, says the feedback has been positive since the policy revision was made.
“We have seen a lot of happiness,” Diede said. “On the part of patrons to have one less thing they need to worry about whether the materials they checked out are due on Monday or on Thursday, they can simply bring them back when they need to and not worry about racking up any fines.
To find your local public library visit www.onlib.org.
