February 11, 2018

English town does away with library fines

Guardian -Library members in Trafford who have mislaid their copies of Harry Potter or Stephen King will no longer have to fear financial punishment after the council announced that it would be abolishing library fines altogether.

In a first for a UK borough, the council said in a statement that fines can be “off-putting for customers”, and it hopes the change, which will see library fines eliminated across Trafford for all ages from April, will lead to “a further increase in usage of libraries across the borough”.

Last year saw Trafford’s first increase in library usage in 17 years, said council leader Sean Anstee.

“It’s another way to encourage usage,” he said. “It will be a permanent change, but we have said to councillors that scrutiny is welcome, to look at the impact of the decision.”

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