Sacramento Public Library follows trend across the nation in eliminating late fees

Readers in Sacramento have one less thing to worry about this summer. Starting July 1, the Sacramento Public Library will no longer charge overdue fees for library materials.

Last year, the library system, California’s fourth largest, opted to temporarily cancel overdue fees to encourage readers during the coronavirus pandemic. The policy change formed part of the library’s budget proposal for the coming fiscal year, which the library’s board unanimously voted in favor of on May 22.

In 2019, the library’s revenue from fines amounted to $303,000, which is about 0.0057% of the total budget.

The change has been a long time coming. On May 23, 2019, the library voted to eliminate fines on children’s materials. During the pandemic, the library also suspended fees temporarily. The suspension in 2020 further decreased revenue from fines, and demonstrated how little the library depends on them as a source of revenue.

“This is long overdue for the Sacramento region and a game changer for the communities we serve,” Rivkah Sass, library system director and CEO, said last week in a news release. “By eliminating overdue fines, we’re able to remove barriers to learning resources and opportunities that are especially critical in these times and that go far beyond books.”

Library officials also noted that such fees can deter readers and library cardholders from using the variety of resources at their disposal in their system. When a book is overdue, the patron’s library card is temporarily canceled, barring them from using computers and other library materials. Sass told The Sacramento Bee that the issue of overdue fees is fundamentally one of equity in the city.

In 2019, the American Library Association passed a resolution declaring fines a form of social inequity, given the barrier financial issues can pose to patrons. The Financial Justice Project, based in San Francisco, found that library patrons in the city miss return deadlines at similar rates, but library branches in low-income communities have a higher number of blocked cards than high-income areas.

Most libraries (including Sacramento) going fine-free, however, maintain that lost items must be reimbursed or replaced by the customer. Sass told The Bee that patrons will receive notifications if their book is overdue and eventually, if not returned, the book will be declared lost and the patron will be responsible for replacing or paying for it. The details of this process, including the time until an item is declared lost, is still being determined by the library. Previously, if an item was overdue for 21 days it would be considered lost and a letter sent. Sass noted that the library is looking into whether this timeline will remain.

The Sacramento Public Library is joining a growing number of public library systems going fine-free, both in California and nationwide.

Yolo County Library announced earlier this year it would be eliminating overdue fines during National Library Week. Their board voted unanimously March 9 to change their policy. The San Mateo County and Contra Costa County library systems, as well as the Oakland, Berkeley, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego public libraries, have all eliminated late fees in the last three years. Library systems in Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland and Minnesota have also ditched fines.

“Late fees have a disproportionate impact on individuals, seniors and families who don’t have the financial resources to pay them, and this makes it harder to take full advantage of our services,” Mark Fink, Yolo County librarian and chief archivist, told ABC10 in March.

Most Sacramento Public Library locations remain open for browsing, with COVID-19 precautions in place.