Danville Public Library will no longer charge customers late fees moving forward.
Library Director Jennifer Hess says that the library hasn’t charged late fees for several months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but she says the library’s board of trustees recently approved a change eliminating fees permanently.
The change puts the Danville library in line with several other libraries across the country that have chosen to eliminate late fees for customers in recent years. The American Library Association passed a resolution last year stating that late fees are a “barrier to service” and a detractor for customers to return books or sign up for a library card.
While most items will no longer have a daily late fine, customers who misplace or damage an item will be charged replacement costs for those items. In addition, the library’s Kindles will still have a $5 per day late fee attached to them.
Other fees, including copy and print charges, will resume October 1st. A full list of fees can be found on the library’s website, www.danvillepubliclibrary.org.
