T-R FILE PHOTO The Marshalltown Public Library is taking steps toward getting rid of late fees. It is a growing trend among libraries across the country.

The Cedar Falls and Waterloo public libraries are two of many libraries across the state and the nation which have opted to get rid of late fees.

The move is intended to relieve the burden of those struggling financially, and possibly make it easier for people with hefty fees to turn in overdue books.

The Marshalltown Public Library has not yet enacted a fine-free policy. However the library has already scratched overdue fees for children’s books, allowing children to make use of the library without worrying about collecting fees.

“It is a barrier for a lot of our community,” Sarah Rosenblum, Marshalltown Public Library director, said.

The removal of fines for children’s books came after the realization that children are not often at fault when their books get returned late.

“It’s out of the children’s control,” Rosenblum said.

In the future, the library hopes to follow the trend and get rid of late fees altogether, which would allow for a more welcoming environment for those without the means to pay back fees.

The library places a fine on individual fees of $5, but once a person collects a fine of over $10, they lose the ability to check out more books. Such a policy can bar many readers, especially children, from having access to any books.

“The library is crucial to their future,” Rosenblum said.

There is not yet a timeline in place for when the library will switch to being completely fine free. The removal of fines from children’s books is one step in that direction in order to test the waters.

Fines make up a small part of the library’s budget, only $16,000 out of $1.2 million, so removing them will not put the library under stress.

“You don’t fine to make money,” Rosenblum said, adding that fines are rather a way to ensure books are returned.

As patrons realize that returning a book overdue will lead to a fine, they occasionally opt to simply keep the book. Removing fines, Rosenblum hopes, will get rid of that fear to return late books.

On top of removing the fine on children’s books, the library has added an automatic renewal for an extra three weeks on books that have not been returned. As long as a book does not have a hold on it, the period before getting fines added on is automatically increased to six weeks.

Automatic renewal and fine-free children’s books, as well as a three-day grace period before fines start, are all steps taken by the library not only to remove the financial burden of those struggling in the community, but also to encourage those afraid of gaining fines to return to the library.

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Contact Shannon Rabotski at 641-753-6611 or srabotski@timesrepublican.com.