The Lexington Public Library no longer levies fines and fees for lost or damaged materials or late items. The policy, instituted in 2020 during the onset of COVID, has been made permanent. Heather Dieffenbach is the executive director of the public library system. Dieffenbach said the long-standing fines and fees policy didn’t amount to a big revenue generator.
“We never made that much revenue through fines and fees and in looking what it would have cost us to start charging fines and fees again, that was going to be more than the revenue we would have taken in through fines and fees,” said Dieffenbach.
Dieffenbach said the fines for late returns could also act as a barrier to participation for some. The library director noted there’s been a national trend toward eliminating fines and fees and Dieffenbach added nobody has gone back to charging users. She said the charges can prevent some people from coming back to the library.
Dieffenbach said public libraries were originally established with a subscription requirement.
“So libraries have really moved from a place of trying to protect some very few precious resources and make those available only to a very few privileged people to really flipping that and making the resources available for everyone,” said Dieffenbach.
Dieffenbach said it was also a sound business decision because of the costs associated with reinstituting fine collection. There are six library branches in Lexington. The Markesberry Library, being constructed at Versailles Road and Village Drive is expected to open at the end of the year.
