Book lovers, library nerds, and cheapskates, it’s time to celebrate… The Howland Public Library in Beacon, NY recently made an announcement that everyone can appreciate.
Howland Public Library in Beacon, NY is now ‘fine-free’
The big (and unexpected) news is that the library will now be “fine-free”, meaning there will be no more late fees for almost anything that has been borrowed. In a press release, they shared some fascinating statistics that led to their decision and what it will mean for library patrons.
The Howland Public Library in Beacon, NY (Google)
Libraries with no late fees in New York
“Research has shown that fines don’t prevent customers from returning late books, but they do create barriers to service,” said Kristen Salierno, director of the Howland Public Library. Salierno too share that late fees (approximately $1,000 were collected last year) represent such a small portion of the library’s budget that waiving the fee will have almost no financial impact. Does that mean the books are just…free?
jarmoluk / A billion photos via Canva
How a library works without fines
No. In fact, the library has provided a very comprehensive solution to their elimination of late fees. Books (as well as audio CDs, DVDs and more) will always have return deadlines. If no one else requests your borrowed item, your borrow time may be automatically renewed. After a period of time, however, the item will incur a “replacement fee”. Patrons must have a replacement fee balance of less than $10 to continue borrowing from the library. And don’t worry if you don’t live in Beacon, because Howland isn’t the only fine-free local library in the area.
There are over 50 libraries in the Mid-Hudson Library System that are fine-free, including Elting Memorial Library in New Paltz, NY, Blodgett Memorial Library in Fishkill, NY, and more. Find the complete list here.
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Albany Public Library went viral during Facebook outage with hilarious tweets
While many across the planet felt out of the loop with Facebook and Instagram down, some took advantage of the blackout to go viral. Albany Public Library in New York did it with Twitter.
The Albany Public Library is located at 517 Western Ave in Albany. During the October 5 Facebook outage, the local library took to Twitter for information and criticized Facebook on another platform. Check out the hilarious photos below, then keep reading why the outage even happened to begin with:
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