Libraries report steady return rates after dropping late fees

The removal of late fees at a number of libraries hasn't led to a significant jump in books not being returned. Photo / 123rf

Public library users don’t seem to be taking advantage of the scrapping of late fees.

Figures released to Newstalk ZB from Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington libraries show there hasn’t been a marked increase in books turning up late or never being returned.

Auckland scrapped fees in 2021, Christchurch and Wellington followed suit the year after.

Data shows about 1.5% of books borrowed from Auckland libraries last year were never returned, down from about 8.5% in 2021.

In Christchurch, the number of overdue items has remained steady at about 9.5% since fees were eliminated in 2022.

In Wellington, an estimated 21% of returns were overdue last year, compared with 24% the year before.

Public Libraries Aotearoa executive director Bernie Hawke said dropping late fees had many benefits, including saving libraries time and money.

“People start using other services like technology and attending other events,” he said.

“What happens is that libraries are getting items back and they don’t need to spend money on replacing those items which are never returned, and staff time can be better used on other things.”

Hamilton City, Waimate District, Grey District, Whanganui District, Wairoa District and Marlborough District councils still retain some fees.

However, all councils except for Wairoa District Council have removed fees for children and young people.

Hawke said it would be good to see fees removed from all council libraries and Public Libraries Aotearoa has an online toolkit to help authorities do this.

“It is a decision made by the local authority; we do respect that they have that autonomy, but we hope that they’d be mindful that other councils have made that decision,” Hawke said.

“Those libraries are still working very effectively, and people don’t have a cost barrier to using them.”

Public Libraries Aotearoa executive director Bernie Hawke says dropping late fees has many benefits, including saving libraries time and money. Photo / Brett Phibbs

At the time of the fee removals, Auckland Council’s head of heritage Louise LaHatte told Local Democracy Reporting about 35,000 people stopped using the library each year because of having fines over $10.

The majority of those were from South Auckland.

LaHatte said negative perceptions of librarians persist because of late fees and she hoped the initiative would enable those perceptions to change.

“There is a stereotype that people are frightened by librarians because they think we are very severe and just want money for overdue books.

“So we do think [removing late fees] will give staff more time back to be assisting customers, as they are spending a lot of time at the moment processing a large volume of small financial transactions and having conversations with customers about their fines and payment plans.”

Jacob Jones is a Newstalk ZB reporter working out of the Auckland newsroom. He has an interest in council and local government issues.