How much financial support do libraries derive from overdue fines?

July 21, 2010 5:46 AM

How much financial support do libraries derive from overdue fines?

I'm more lax than I used to be about returning library books by the due date. I figure the fines help support an institution I'm glad to have supported. But is that amount of support small enough in the scheme of things that the librarian would prefer to just have the materials back on time?

Or put it another way: If the public at large suddenly became dramatically more diligent about on-time returns, would librarians view this as a positive or negative development?

posted by Joe Beese to Education (23 answers total)

At the library where I worked, our allocated budget took the fines into account and subtracted the total amount received in fines from the money the library was given each year. (We did have one blissful year when fines were first introduced and this didn't happen, and the fine money went to the acquisitions budget.) But even if that had kept up, we'd have preferred to just have the books back on time. Fines tend to be designed to encourage that, rather than financially penalise the patrons to the library's advantage - that's why fines tend to be small and capped at a set amount per overdue item.
posted by Catseye at 5:53 AM on July 21, 2010

It probably varies from town to town, but in my town the overdue fines go to the general fund, so they only benefit the library in even smaller ways than if they got to keep them. That said, unless the item is popular and likely to be missed, I also view overdue fines as merely a small extra donation to the town.

In Summary: giving to the Friends of the Library is a more helpful way of giving, but being lax and paying the fine isn't a big deal, either.
posted by ldthomps at 5:55 AM on July 21, 2010

Now I wonder if they were just being polite, but -- I am a sloppy book-returner and a decent source of revenue for my local library. I have asked the librarians about this, and was told: we appreciate the money, and we can always just call you if we really need the book back. I live in a wee town with a little library -- YLMV.
posted by kmennie at 6:09 AM on July 21, 2010

I should tack on that I know one of the librarians hates asking for the fines; offering what you owe before being asked is probably not a bad idea.
posted by kmennie at 6:11 AM on July 21, 2010

I seem to remember in that recent brouhaha in Chicago when some local Fox affiliate wrote a doofus story about whether libraries were a good use of public money and the Chief Librarian rhetorically slapped the shit out of them, it was a pretty tiny percentage of their overall budget.

Lemme see...

Yeah here's the thread.

Fox quotes $2 million dollars in fines out of a $120m budget, making it less than 2% of their income.
posted by Happy Dave at 6:14 AM on July 21, 2010

That's strange, because my library just increased its fines...and the limit of fines you can have on your library card went from $25 to $5...I thought they were getting something out of it.
posted by lhude sing cuccu at 6:21 AM on July 21, 2010

lhude sing cuccu:

At one library where I worked, when the financial crisis hit, the city came down hard on us to collect fines, and we reduced the limit of fines you could have on library cards. The city basically told us, "Why should we give you any more money when you have all these fines sitting around uncollected?" -- even though, as others have said, it would be a tiny slice of our budget.
posted by Jeanne at 6:26 AM on July 21, 2010

What they're getting out of it is their books and materials back. That seems obvious, but budget-wise the primary effect of library fines is related to cost reduction, rather than creating revenue for the library.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 6:26 AM on July 21, 2010

I work in a library. Fines are for getting people to return the materials. they are way to small to do anything financially.
posted by majortom1981 at 6:31 AM on July 21, 2010

Got it. Get off the damned couch and return the books.

Thanks for all the answers.
posted by Joe Beese at 6:38 AM on July 21, 2010

As an academic librarian, I dislike fines. I think they advantage the wealthy over the poor. One student may think nothing of a $50 Lost Book charge as Mommy and Daddy will just cover it at tuition time, while to another student, $50 bucks is actually a big deal. Toss in to that the rising cost of books, and the generic $50 lost book fine is actually a steep savings when it comes to a $120 accounting textbook.

If I could get away with no consequences for not returning books, I would, but students have shown that they just don't think about how their behavior impacts others. I had one student last semester who was PISSED that we did not have a book she needed because another student had it overdue, but when I pointed out that she too had long overdue books on her account that other students might need, she didn't make the connection.

I'd rather have the books back. Fines provide a minuscule amount of income for the library (if/when we even see the money, which is hazy at best, but that's more an institutional issue) that knocking ourselves out to collect them does not feel like a good use of our resources.

But still, we need the books back so other can use them. Instead of fines, I limit services to people who have books long overdue. Want to borrow a laptop, but have two books that were due back last year? Guess you'll be going to the computer lab to write that paper. Want the copy of your class textbook we have on Reserve? You can borrow that when we get our books back. I'm not shutting students down from mission-critical materials (General Collection books needed for research papers and the like), just the stuff that makes their life easier (laptops, Reserve books they should have anyways, etc).
posted by robocop is bleeding at 6:53 AM on July 21, 2010

At the library where I work, we actually get a larger amount of money from the county for circulation than we do from patrons for fines. So, if the book is not returned on time, that's 15 cents, but if it is and it circulates again immediately (e.g. if there are holds on it), that's 40 cents. So we could actually be losing money from overdue books vs. having them back and circulating.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 7:41 AM on July 21, 2010

I think they are a nice but small source of revenue. If I ran the Library, the new wing would be the Tardy Patron Wing, in honor of those of us, and we are Legion, who return our materials late, and cheerfully pay our fines.
posted by theora55 at 7:43 AM on July 21, 2010

Oh, and we lose money on lost books, too. We charge the price of the book plus a $5 processing fee, but it costs WAY more than $5 in staff time to order, receive, catalog, and physically process (jacket cover, property stamp, tattle tape, whatever) a replacement copy.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 7:44 AM on July 21, 2010

Both the library near my home and the one near my office in a different city have "Friends of the Library" programs, where you can join for an annual subscription to support the library. They also have monthly book sales open to the public -- one is to buy a grocery bag of books for like $4.00 -- $3 if you're a "Friend." Or you can just visit the same store the rest of the month for exceedingly reasonable used-book prices.

I would expect these methods, if available, would provide a much better way to support your local library. And there's also the regular donation route as well, if they do that.
posted by Celsius1414 at 8:12 AM on July 21, 2010

I know you already have your answer, but chiming in to say my local librarian told me the fines go to the general fund of the city, and the city raised fines to increase the general fund - not to help fund the libraries specifically. Also, when we recently lost a book, the librarian asked me to replace the book rather than pay for it - I guess lost book fines go to the same black hole. ):
posted by serazin at 8:34 AM on July 21, 2010

In myh town--I was on the Libary Commission--fines go to the town rather than to the library! Imagine if they went to the library and in turn the Police Dept said that all fines for tickets should go to the police dept rather than the town.
posted by Postroad at 8:44 AM on July 21, 2010

For our smallish library the income from fines adds up to 0.86% of our budget. Luckily we get to keep it.
posted by davismbagpiper at 10:12 AM on July 21, 2010

I work in a university sciences library. Books that are lost in our collection can cost upwards of hundreds of dollars. Our lost book fine is 97$, which doesn't come close to meeting the true cost, even after you average out book prices throughout the collection. Most of our funding is from endowments and the university itself, so the fines are more a (not very effective) means of behaviour modification.
posted by wowbobwow at 10:25 AM on July 21, 2010

I work in a public library in the circulation department and routinely have to ask patrons to settle fines. One issue that consistently comes up with chronically late patrons is that, while their money is appreciated, their refusal to return materials on time often deprives other patrons access to the materials. Sure, it's only a buck here and there, but that's another week or whatever someone else who wants to use the materials can't.

To more directly address your question, and add to something mentioned above, our collected fines go into the general fund for City Services. So the Library doesn't necessarily see any of that dough—it's just as likely to go towards Parks & Rec or Waste Management or Parking & Transportation.
posted by carsonb at 10:38 AM on July 21, 2010

I am lucky to live in a place with a really great library that does not charge fines for overdue books!

I briefly worked there a few years ago, and the librarians didn't like collecting money for anything really, they sell pencils and tote bags etc.
posted by chocolatetiara at 10:54 AM on July 21, 2010

Our library in Woburn, MA does take food items instead of fines so the fines can't amount to much. I assume that the food goes to shelters.
posted by Ferrari328 at 2:55 PM on July 21, 2010

We lost a couple of library books while moving house a couple of years ago. I went in to sort it out (planning to pay for the books) and encountered what I believe to be the world's nastiest bitch librarian who tore strips off me. I walked out with the issue unresolved, vowing never to return.

(Small country town, family of 3 avid readers... we missed our only library somethin' shocking.)

During a recent cleanup we found the books. We timed our visit so the nasty bitch wasn't at the counter. The fines were $140. I gasped but prepared to hand the total over. The lovely lady serving us then wiped all but $20 (without me asking), which I was delighted to pay.

If they're wiped that easily, I'm guessing that our local library doesn't depend on that money.
posted by malibustacey9999 at 4:41 PM on July 21, 2010