In October 2021, the city’s libraries abolished fines on overdue materials and predicted it would unlock hundreds of thousands of people who had their cards blocked.
The result two-and-a-half years later has been a resounding success with a spike in materials taken out, library cards issued, and program attendance, according to officials in charge of New York City’s three library systems.
“We’ve found that fines didn’t incentivize returns, but were keeping out the people who most needed our free services, programming and access to knowledge,” a joint statement from all systems said.
The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is seeing at least 25% more new card applications a year, according to BPL spokesperson Fritzi Bodenheimer.
The New York Public Library — which covers Manhattan, The Bronx and Staten Island — has experienced a similar boost in new cards and circulation of branch materials has increased by over two million from fiscal year 2022 to 2023, said NYPL spokesperson Amy Geduldig.
At the Queens Public Library, new card registrations have surpassed pre-pandemic figures by up to 31% some months and the number of in-person visits have jumped by 47% since fines were abolished, according to QPL spokesperson Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska.
Paper Cuts
But library officials are worried the progress will be curtailed if the Adams administration pushes through a $58.3 million budget cut as planned.
If enacted, the “devastating” cuts “threaten to upend much of the progress we’ve made over the past few years,” a statement issued by the three library systems on Wednesday.
The budget reduction “will severely impact vulnerable communities who need our services the most,” they added.
The city’s 220 public libraries have already lost seven-day service citywide and are now looking at most branches being open for only five days a week, according to the library officials.
The proposed library funding reduction comes as funding for the city’s police force and other uniformed services remain steady.
On Thursday, Mayor Eric Adams said the final $111.6 billion budget is still being hashed out and predicted “everyone will be happy” with the final result.
“This is the negotiation part of it,” Adams told PIX11.
“We’re going to get to a meeting [with City Council] where we’re going to shake hands… We understand the importance of libraries in our city,” he added.
For years, the mayor’s initial budget included cuts to beloved libraries and other popular social services like senior centers — only to be partially or fully rescinded after pushback from the City Council and advocacy groups.
In 2016, the Council tried to eliminate the so-called budget dance by establishing baseline funding for oft-cut agencies and organizations.
A Fine Line
As for going fine free, libraries across the country have had similar success increasing usage after lifting monetary penalties, said Jessamyn West, a library technologist based in Vermont.
“It’s a big equity issue,” she said. “As more and more public libraries get clued into diversity inclusion, going fine free is a big part of it.”
When it costs money to use libraries people don’t use them as much, she added.
“There’s a menacing aspect to fines,” she added, noting she understands why some libraries still have fines.
Many public libraries in the United States believed that giving people access to books would make them better people and more educated participants in a Democratic society, according to West.
“I feel like some of the fine history in American public libraries is based on a slightly patronizing idea that you have to teach people how to use the commons — public libraries are a commons in some very real way,” she said.
In New York City, patrons returned thousands of long overdue items shortly after the fines were lifted, the New York Times reported in March 2022. That included one item from 1970 and others that were so dated the branch addresses had changed, according to library officials.
One patron in the Mulberry Street Library in SoHo said the fine elimination has led to more frequent visits.
“I’ve come back here at least three four times a week instead of once every two or three weeks,” said John Esposito.
Library officials caution that the fine elimination is likely not the only reason they have experienced an increase in usage. Other factors like the end of the pandemic and the added need for online access have also contributed to the boost in new cards and program attendance, according to city library leaders.
New York City isn’t the first library system to eliminate fines — and drive up usage.
Studies have shown that the effects on revenue are minimal compared to library overall budgets. Research has also shown that the new policy does not tend to create a jump in books being returned late.
The new fine policy, however, hasn’t come without some pitfalls.
Cards with overdue books are blocked from borrowing additional physical materials — books, magazines, and DVDs — when replacement fees reach $50 or more in Queens and $100 in the NYPL.
And some patrons return materials later since the fine has been abolished, according to one staffer at the Mulberry library.
“People are more relaxed returning things,” said David Diaz, an information assistant at the branch. “They will return it later than if there were fines. They are not as diligent.”
“But I think it’s good,” he added. “People are still conscientious about returning things.”