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Columbus Library Will No Longer Fine For Overdue Materials
By: Associated Press
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – The public library system in Ohio’s capital will stop charging fines for overdue materials starting Jan. 1.
The Columbus Metropolitan Library says it will instead rely on its existing policy of blocking use of a customer’s library card to physically check out more items while that person has an item that is three weeks or more overdue. Customers still will be charged replacement fees for items that are considered lost.
The library says it doesn’t rely on revenue from the fines and wants to take away anything that impedes the goal of getting more materials into customers’ hands. The library says the fines were an incentive to get items returned on time, and it’s removing them after taking steps to minimize the effect of such fines on customers.