2.14.2017

I'm Not Kidding - I Am SO Over You, Fines


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Last week, I did a post on why we should put our shoulder to the wheel on eliminating fines in libraries.

This week, serendipitously, a discussion on the alsc-l listserv on increasing circulation of youth materials linked to an important study and white paper. Colorado's wunderkind, Carol Edwards, pointed readers to Removing Barriers to Access: Eliminating Library Fines and Fees on Children's Materials, written by meg DePriest, the result of an IMLS funded SPELL project grant that identified fines and fees for children as a major barrier to service for low-income families.

The clearly written and researched white paper can give all youth librarians the tools they need to push for fine/fee elimination with directors, administration and municipal funders.

Thanks to the Colorado State Library, IMLS and the SPELL advisory board for making this kind of support available not just to CO libraries but to all of us!

4 comments:

  1. THANK YOU for pointing all your readers to this. I missed that list-serv conversation. Sending it to my Director and Policy Group chair immediately :)

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  2. I shared the recent Slate.com article with our leadership team yesterday and it sounds like our director is very in favor of eliminating fines... I'm crossing my fingers that we may be able to make this a reality soon!!!!

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  3. Hi Marge! A librarian friend just sent me a link to your post here. I'm so glad you found the white paper useful, and I thank you for connecting your readers to it!

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    1. And thanks so much for your work on it! I teach basic youth services courses on the MLIS grad level and as CE courses so hope to continue to share your work with ppl to get the thinking and discussion going!

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