At a recent visit to a Seattle library, I accompanied my son to the check-out desk. The staff member behind the desk told us there were some fines on his card. As a librarian I feel a special kind of shame in discovering when my kids lose or damage books. My son blushed, I blushed, then I gave him a sigh and what my husband refers to as the Stern Look of Disapproval. As I reached for my wallet, I calculated a list of chores that could be done to pay back those fines.
There are a few common things people ask when they learn I’m a librarian. The questions are usually what I’m reading and how to download an ebook. The most common occurrence is a quiet admission that they haven’t been to a library lately because they are embarrassed by having too many fines.
There is a campaign right now to help rid students of their library fines. If students are in kindergarten through 12th grade they can ask for a Fresh Start on fines that were accrued before November 2014. This does not extend to fees from lost items or to adults. More information is available at http://www.kcls.org/usingthelibrary/freshstart/.
There are a few other things I’d like to point out about fines:
• If you are an adult with overdue fines we promise to not tell your mother. We will also not shun you, taunt you or put your photo in the post office.
• If your account is under $10 you can still check out items. A total of $9.99 in fines still allows you access of up to 100 items and downloads.
• Fines do not accrue interest like credit cards do. I wish Visa would follow suit.
• Your fines can be paid online. This is a simple way to avoid the embarrassment of admitting to a staff member you kept Fifty Shades of Grey a week longer than the due date.
• Ebooks can never be overdue. They simply expire.
If managing a household worth of library cards is getting to be too much, remember that Library Elf can help consolidate those cards and you can set your preferences for helpful reminders by email or text when things are coming due.
We could all use a fresh start now and then. Maybe I’ll suggest it to Visa.
Darcy Brixey is a teen services librarian with the King County Library System. She’d like to tell you she loves to read, but it’s an expectation of the job.
