Beginning July 1, the San Diego Public Library will no longer charge a daily fee for items returned late.
The change follows analysis by the city that revealed the library was spending nearly $1 million to collect less than $700,000 in overdue fees. The analysis also showed that overdue fees were preventing people from using library services.
The new policy will allow the library to make better use of its staff time and resources, according to a city statement.
“With this new policy, the library expects to improve access [to] its numerous resources in low-income communities where up to 40 percent of cardholders are prohibited from checking out materials because of outstanding fees,” the statement read.
–Staff
