London libraries go fine-free so more people can use service

The London Public Library is doing away with late fines to allow more people access to its collections.

The library board unanimously approved the decision in September, and the policy is now in place at all branches. 

Michael Ciccone, the library's CEO, said about 16,000 patrons had fines under $40, preventing them from accessing resources. Mariam Hamou, the library's board chair, said the people most often barred from borrowing due to unpaid fines live in vulnerable neighbourhoods. 

"In our work at London Public Library, we serve adults and children fleeing abusive homes who are not able to return safely to collect library books," Hamou wrote in a letter to city councillors, co-authored by Ciccone.

"[There are] isolated seniors not having anyone to return books for them if they are ill; newcomers with language barriers not sure of borrowing rules; our homeless community; and those in group homes with little privacy in shared rooms or access to the library," she writes. 

Fines don't work

Besides allowing more people access to library resources, the board agreed that fines are not a deterrent to preventing the loss of materials or instilling civic responsibility. 

Instead, the library will emphasize "stewardship", and will offer an amnesty period to allow people who currently have overdue materials to return them with no questions asked. 

Ciccone said while fines used to be a sustainable source of revenue, that just isn't the case anymore. 

"As time has gone on and digital collections have become more popular, that revenue base has been shrinking to the point where it's no longer viable," said Ciccone. "In fact, it costs more to take in and process [the fines] than it does the amount of money that we actually collect."

In a letter to city council, it says that "the collection of fine payments by staff is a net loss, costing nearly 33 per cent more in staff cost than the amount of fines collected."

Ciccone also pointed out that the 16,000 people who were unable to use the library before the fees were waived were a group that had amassed over a period of 10 to 15 years. 

"It's money that we'll never see," he said. "If each of those patrons comes back the library, it's worth it."

He also said it was easier to garner support for the change, because the COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on barriers faced by people in low income and under served communities.

"We just used that momentum to convince our boards and municipalities that it was the right thing to do," he said.

London is not the first to go fine-free. Several libraries in other Canadian cities have also made the change, including Barrie, Oakville, Burlington, Edmonton, Saskatoon and Calgary. Multiple jurisdictions in the United States have also moved in that direction.