TO: Mayor and City Council
THROUGH: Kristin Retherford, Interim City Manager
FROM: Norman Wright, Community Development Director
SUBJECT:
title
Salem Public Library Fine Free Policy.
Ward(s): All Wards
Councilor(s): All Councilors
Neighborhood(s): All Neighborhoods
Result Area(s): Welcoming and Livable Community.
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SUMMARY:
summary
Administrative Rule 101-04 codifies the Salem Public Library’s Fine Free Policy. Salem Public Library is committed to reducing all financial barriers to accessing services. Salem Public Library’s Fine Free Policy is informed by ALA’s Free Access to Information Policy B.4.2 which asserts “charging of fees and levies for information services, including those services utilizing the latest information technology, is discriminatory in publicly supported institutions providing library and information services.”
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ISSUE:
Information Item
RECOMMENDATION:
recommendation
Information item correlated to changes in the proposed Master Fee Schedule beginning July 1st, 2022.
body
FACTS AND FINDINGS:
The authority to promulgate administrative rules is granted under SRC 20J.030. SRC 20J.040 outlines the procedure for adopting an administrative rule. This procedure requires providing notice of the proposed rulemaking to the City Council along with other methods of public notice. Adopting the administrative rule allows interested persons to be included in the rulemaking process and is in the public interest.
City Council has the authority to review a proposed administrative rule. City Council’s review authority is limited to determining whether the proposed rule is within the scope of the Code authority, whether the rule is duplicative, or conflicts with, another rule or law, or if the proposed rule is outside of the City Manager’s administrative rulemaking authority.
On May 18th, 2022, the public notice for the proposed Administrative Rule 101-04 was distributed per requirements. The notice was posted on the City of Salem’s website, at the City Manager’s office, and was made available at the Main Library’s customer service desk. All public comments are due by Monday, June 13th, 2022. The administrative rule will become effective on July 1st, 2022.
SPL Budget Impact of Fine Free
Since 2015, fines have been a decreasing part of the Library’s overall budget. In 2015, fines were 2.2% of the overall budget and have since been further reduced to .7% of the overall budget in 2020. Because of COVID, SPL stopped charging fines in March of 2020. From that time until present day fines have not contributed to the budget.
|
Year |
Fines Collected |
Annual Budget |
% of Budget from Fines |
Notes |
|
2015 |
94,910.02 |
$4,671,900.00 |
2.2 |
|
|
2016 |
100,803.94 |
$4,817,550.00 |
2 |
|
|
2017 |
110,341.90 |
$4,938,800.00 |
2.2 |
|
|
2018 |
102,384.92 |
$4,965,070.00 |
2 |
|
|
2019 |
70,341.45 |
$5,031,120.00 |
1.3 |
|
|
2020 |
34,308 |
$5,268,420.00 |
0.7 |
Fines not charged beginning March 2020 due to pandemic |
|
2021 |
0.00 |
$5,153,480.00 |
0 |
Fines not charged due to pandemic |
|
2022 |
0.00 |
$5,706,290.00 |
0 |
Fines not charged due to pandemic |
BACKGROUND:
Library Administration and Staff have researched the negative impact that fines have on a community. Charging fines exacerbates social inequities, causes barriers to use the library, creates difficult interactions for staff, and takes up valuable staff time that could be spent on helping patrons. Overdue fines are a regressive method of raising revenue, they hurt those who can’t afford them the most, create stress-filled interactions, and require significant amounts of staff time to manage. Research shows that communities of color are more likely to be impacted by unpaid library fees and are grappling with a higher percentage of suspended library cards. This is a growing concern for Salem Public Library and efforts to create better ways to engage and support community residents. Salem Public Library currently has 8,329 patrons who are blocked from using the library because of fines. Of these, 2,701 are children and teens. In addition to this, fine have not been collected since 2020 because of COVID 19.
Fines are not the only option for encouraging timely returns. Under the Cooperative Circulation Policy, all items are assumed Lost after 21 days and the patron is charged for the replacement cost of the item. When a patron’s account has $50.00 in charges, the account is suspended. Research shows that removing fines has had no significant impact on items being returned in a timely matter. In fact, many libraries report that they actually saw an increase in long overdue materials being returned after going fine free. Staff recently conducted research on the organizational cost of collecting fines which included money spent on staff time and mental health, overdue notices, and transaction fees. The research concluded that the actual cost to the organization of collecting $5.00 in fines was $5.92.
The Library Advisory Board considered the proposed policy at its March 9th meeting. The Board voiced unanimous support for the recommended actions through a formal 6-0 vote.
Current Fines for Overdue Materials:
The following fine rates will be reduced to zero in the proposed Master Fee Schedule for Fiscal Year 2022 - 2023:
Picture Books for Children - originally $0.15 Per day / item Maximum of $3.00 per item; as of July 1, 2022, reduced to $0.00.
All Other Books - originally $0.25 Per day / item Maximum of $5.00 per item; as of July 1, 2022, reduced to $0.00.
All Other Magazines - $0.25 Per day / item Maximum of $3.00 per item; as of July 1, 2022, reduced to $0.00.
Interlibrary Loan Program
Interlibrary Loan Item(s) Loaned Locally $1.00 Per item - as of July 1, 2022, reduced to $0.00.
Interlibrary Loan Item(s) Loaned Non-Locally $1.00 Per item - as of July 1, 2022, reduced to $0.00.
Kim Carroll
City Librarian
Attachments:
1. Notice of Proposed Administrative Rulemaking Rule 101-04
2. Proposed Salem Public Library Fine Free Policy