BY DANI TIETZ
dani@sjodaily.com
The Oakwood Public Library Board voted to eliminate late fees for patrons beginning March 11.
The measure included waiving previous fines on all library cards, even if a patron had not been to the library for years. The only fine that remains is on cards with lost or damaged items.
“We are hoping this encourages more patrons to use the library and the free services we provide,” Oakwood Librarian Tammi Helka said. “We understand people get busy, sick, or other things come up that they don’t have the time or just forget to get the items back on time. We are no longer charging for those late items as we understand life just sometimes gets in the way.”
Oakwood began talking about the possibility of waiving fees as they became aware that large libraries in Chicago, New York and St. Louis are all fine free.
“With Oakwood’s population being smaller and some are lower income this will help give more people access to the library and not have to worry about any fines if they are late,” Helka said.
Books that are checked out longer than 30 days past the due date will incur a fine, but if the book is returned, the balance will be brought back to zero on the account.
Helka said the goal of the library is just to get the items back, not to keep patrons from using the library.
Oakwood Public Library offers a large variety of books, audiobook, and magazines for patrons to check out.
“We also have Kits, that include books, dvd’s and games for kids to have a hands on learning in several topics,” Helka said. “We just started checking out puzzles, board games, and even baking kits. We offer three different apps for patrons to download books, movies, and music to their device all just with using their library card.”
A librarian will be at Oakwood Grade School on Wednesday, March 18 and Thursday March 19 from 4-7pm for anyone that wants to check their accounts or sign up for a library card.
