County council hears report of 2021 activity, upcoming plans and societal reasons for eliminating fees for late material returns
By JESSICA BRICKER
A recent policy change at the Wells County Public Library has aligned with other libraries while benefitting patrons and staff, even though it’s eliminating a “potential source of income.”
The Wells County Council received an update this month on the library’s activities and future service plans.
After learning the library has gone largely fine-free, Council President Steve Huggins asked how the library was deferring or making up for those costs.
“In short, we’re not,” WCPL Board President Dustin Brown said. “The numbers are very small. In 2020, fines made up 0.76 percent of our total budget. In 2019, it was 1.23 percent.”
When asked to put a dollar amount of that percentage, WCPL Director Sarah MacNeill said it was about $20,000 to $30,000 a year.
“And you’re eliminating those fines, eliminating that potential source of income,” Huggins said to receive confirmation, and Brown and MacNeill confirmed.
Brown said fines remain for some loans such as mobile hot spots and inter-library loans. The replacement cost of lost items remains, and an item is deemed lost after it’s not returned 30 days of the due date.
“This wasn’t a move that we made lightly,” Brown said. “There was about two years of discussion with other libraries that had undergone this policy change.”
Other libraries have reported increases in services, circulation and patron visits after implementing the fine-free policy.
Council member Scott Elzey asked for more information about that connection.
“A lot of the patrons have viewed the threat of fines as a reason not to come to the library, or not to check things out,” Brown said. “We found with our patrons that a lot of parents were reluctant to get cards for their children because of that barrier. They saw that as a negative thing for them.”
MacNeill said the system now is almost more extreme in that patrons are faced with either returning the late item or paying in full to replace it. In the past, it was a drawn-out process as fees added up day after day. Outstanding fees for a lost item results in the patron losing the ability to access services both in-person and online.
“So they wouldn’t be able to use the library until either they return the item or replace it,” MacNeill said.
The responsibility of returning the item remains. Instead, the library is, for example, eliminating the fees for a family of three that forgot to return 50 picture books on time and faces fines because of it, she said.
Elzey asked if there was a way to track the change to document if there are increases in lost materials and related costs to determine if it was “financially a wise (decision)” to make the change.
“People lose material and don’t return material now, whether we have fines or not. The fine gets so large that they just keep it because they’re embarrassed to even bring the book back,” MacNeill said. “It’s kind of more than a mental gain, really, than financial when it comes to that aspect.
“A lot of the libraries that we talked to over the past two years they’ve said they actually had more material returned than actually lost because people don’t have that financial shame over their head when they bring the item back. So when they bring the item back, their account is cleared and they can continue to use the library.”
The policy change has resulted in less administrative work and more time for front desk staff to work on other projects. It’s also improved morale, MacNeill said.
She said she challenged her staff members who weren’t as in favor of the change to find a library that wishes they’ve never made the change. They had two years to do it.
“And they couldn’t find one,” she said.
Relatedly, in the two months since movie rental fees were discontinued, movie circulation has increased by 56 percent, Brown said.
Other highlights reported to the council:
• “The meeting room usage is up significantly,” Brown said. He cited a 133 percent increase from 2020 (a light year due to COVID-19) to 2021, and an increase of 60 percent in 2021 compared to 2019. It’s a benefit of the renovation project, Brown said, part of which made the meeting spaces more pleasant to use.
• Usage of the “Book a Librarian” service is increasing. In 2019, it was utilized 27 times. In 2020, it was used 14 times. Last year, it was utilized 111 times. MacNeill said through the service, patrons can book 15 or 30 minutes of one-on-one time with a librarian on staff. Librarians can help with a variety of tasks, such as resume writing and electronic device assistance.
“I did not even know you guys did that,” Huggins said.
“It’s a vital service we provide,” Brown said.
• Brown said program participation levels are back up to the 2019 levels, the library’s benchmark for pre-pandemic activity.
• During last fall’s Children’s Book Festival, 1,500 people went through the library.
• Upcoming services to be rolled out include Hoopla, a digital streaming service for movies, audiobooks, e-books and music. “And we are jumping on the bandwagon with overnight pick up availability,” Brown said.
MacNeill said overnight pick-up utilizes a locker system where books are secured for patrons to pick up reserved books outside normal library hours. The combination for the locker is related to the patron’s library card number. The goal is to have lockers installed at the Bluffton and Ossian libraries.
Specifically on the Southern Wells Community Schools campus, a bank of lockers will hopefully be installed next to the WCPL book drop slot. Currently through the high school librarian, books are able to be distributed to patrons. “Which is pretty cool that she’s willing to do that, but that only helps those patrons that have students, and only helps them during the school year,” MacNeill said.
Overall, Huggins was complimentary of the library’s work.
“I’m personally really pleased with the way that the library turned out with the new updates, and what you guys are doing is great (with) all these programs,” he said. “And you’re doing great for the community and we appreciate it.”
jessica@news-banner.com
