Overdue fines at Bartholomew County Library to end

Overdue fines at the Bartholomew County Public Library will become a thing of the past, starting on June 15th. At their May 14 meeting, the Bartholomew County Public Library Board adopted a new circulation policy that states in part, “BCPL recognizes that overdue fines are a barrier to users in our community. In an effort to reduce that barrier, we do not assess overdue fines for items that are late.”

”While overdue fines were always meant to be an incentive to encourage patrons to bring their books back, the research indicates that they simply do not. Instead, fines just serve to deter people from returning items for fear of retribution or they lack the ability to pay,” explains Jason Hatton, Library Director.

Library officials say that overdue notices will still be sent via email or US Mail. Lost and damaged items remain the responsibility of the library user. Patrons will not be able to checkout new items if they have any lost items on their account. Items will automatically get set to lost 21 days after they are due. The library will still use the service of a collection agency when an item is 45 days overdue. When an account is submitted to collections, the library will add a $10 fee.