Fines Free - What you need to know

In March of 2020, as the pandemic began, all five library systems in Perth County suspended late fees on all library materials. Now that things have started to return to normal, the Perth County Information Network is excited to announce that all member libraries will continue to be Fines Free for the majority of library material, forever. Fines Free will officially go into effect on April 4th, 2022.

Read the full Press Release here 

How it works

Fine Free means that library users will no longer be charged overdue (late) fines on a majority of our collections with some exceptions. (See chart below) Cardholders are still encouraged to return all items on time and will still be charged for any lost or damaged library materials

A reminder that:

• Due dates for your borrowed items are listed on your checkout receipt and on My PEPL on Bibliocommons
• You are responsible for returning or renewing borrowed items on time
• All eligible items will be automatically renewed up to 3 times
• Borrowed items (excluding ILLS) can be returned to any of the 5 PCIN library locations 
• You can sign up to receive a courtesy email to alert you 3 days before your borrowed items are due

Items that are overdue for more than 35 days will be assumed lost and are automatically billed for replacement.

Why go Fine Free?

Overdue fines were originally introduced to motivate patrons to return library materials on time. However, fines can create a financial barrier for potential library users. In fact, Libraries that have been Fine Free for some time have seen a significant increase in circulation and library card renewals after fines were removed. 

Late fines can discourage people from using the Library and we wanted to continue to make libraries in Perth County accessible and inclusive for all. Our hope is that anyone who was not using their local Library because of fines will feel welcome to visit once again.

Kendra Roth - Management Chair of PCIN and CEO of PEPL 

Fines Free at a glance