NYPL Got Rid of Late Fees and Check Out What’s Being Returned
Has your library gone fine-free? Mine did starting earlier this year, but I’ve been paying attention to this phenomenon for years — pretty much since I started this account. There’s a bunch of research as to why eliminating late fees is a smart choice, but the research doesn’t take into account the added benefit of seeing all the interesting things that get returned once people feel that’s it “ok” to untether themselves from things they’ve (likely inadvertently) had for years and years and years. At some point, the burden of a large fine keeps those secret items tucked away. (But even with fines lifted, it seems the embarrassment remains. Most extremely overdue items are returned via the mail or an anonymous after-hours drop-off.)
This NYT piece — titled “The Library Ends Late Fees, and the Treasures Roll In” — starts out with a fun anecdote about a note that is returned along with some books: “Enclosed are books I have borrowed and kept in my house for 28-50 years! I am 75 years old now and these books have helped me through motherhood and my teaching career. I’m sorry for living with these books so long. They became family.” (Awwww….)
Since the NYPL went fine free in October 2021, branches in Manhattan, Staten Island, and the Bronx have received 21,000 overdue items. Brooklyn (a separate library system) has received 51,000 items. (What’s up, Brooklyn? I would like to, ahem, admit here that a couple of years ago, I found a young readers chapter book from the Brooklyn Public Library — shout out to the Central Branch on Grand Army Plaza — in our stash. If I returned it, it would *only* be about 15 years overdue…not 50. Too bad I can’t find it now. 😬)
Moral of the story: It’s ok to unburden yourself from your very, very overdue library materials…but maybe not in a Little Free Library. Swipe to see a copy of Kafka’s The Trial that someone distributed in ours. It’s from the Lincoln (MA) Library, with a bookplate dated June 1959.
originally published on instagram