Manchester's public library is getting rid of late fees to remove unnecessary sanctions against patrons.
Carlos Pearman, head of library circulation, said that the Manchester Public Library had already gotten rid of a 25 cents a day fine for kids and teen books, but decided to remove additional late fees to encourage more people to come to the library.
“It's basically been a nationwide trend over the last about 10 years as libraries have seen that this is stigmatizing,” Pearman said. “It's penalizing and specifically, it really hurts people with fewer means to be able to come and use the library.”
Pearman said the library considered it after seeing the trend and looking at finances. He said a number of libraries in the state have dropped late fees, and he's happy to see it happen in Manchester.
Nashua Public Library removed fees from their library starting at the beginning of 2023. Portsmouth Public Library removed their fines in January of 2019 and removed the outstanding balances of anyone that had incurred charges prior to the new policy.
Manchester patrons can still be charged for the price of books that are never returned, so it’s important to renew and return items that have gone past their due date.
Media, like DVD’s and audiobooks on CD, that are past due for over 40 days can have missing book fees removed once they’ve been returned back to the library within a 6 month period.
