New York Public Library lets kids work off late fees by checking out more books

Up to 143,000 young scofflaws whose borrowing privileges had been revoked by the New York Public Library for failing to pay late fines have been invited back -- to take out more books.




While this seems like opening the vault and inviting bank robbers to come back and pocket what they missed, library officials stress that reading, not money, is why libraries exist.




"The country is in a pretty tough financial climate right now, and we know that kids more than ever need to use the library because their parents might not be able to afford to buy books or not be able to afford Internet access at home," Jack Martin, the library's assistant director, told Reuters.


"When they have fines on their card, chances are they're not going to come into the library," Martin said. "They're embarrassed to come to the library; they think we'll know they have fines and we'll ask them to leave."

Under NYPL policy, any person owing more than $15 in late fees cannot borrow material, and about 30% of the library's cardholders who are 17 or under have run up bills at least that large. Under the amnesty plan, youngsters -- including those who owe less than $15 -- can sign up for the "Read Down Your Fine" program, check out books and get $1 knocked off their fine for each 15 minutes of reading done through Sept. 9.




No monitoring will be done. "We trust our kids," Martin said.




One kid who wouldn't need monitoring in any case is Rafiyu Afnan Mahmood, who ran afoul of the $15 rule while checking out 10 books at a time. Rafiyu read 666 books in about three months in 2009, according to the New York Daily News.

"In my mind, it's like a movie; it's fun," said Rafiyu, 10, who lives with his mother in a Bronx shelter. He checked out 250 books last summer.

The NYPL is looking at writing off a possible $2 million in unpaid fines, which even Martin agreed is "a serious chunk of change."

Libraries all over the country have been hit by cutbacks, and while fines are a major source of income -- late fees brought in $350,000 for the Louisville Free Public Library last year -- it usually is not cost-efficient to chase down those who won't -- or can't -- pay small fines.

The New York Public Library, however, has failed to pursue one high-profile borrower, despite his mounting late fees.

On Oct. 5, 1789, George Washington, in his first year as president, checked out two books: "Law of Nations," a treatise on international relations, and Vol. 12 of the "Commons Debates," which contained transcripts of debates from Britain's House of Commons.

He never returned them. Adjusted for inflation, his late fee would now be more than $300,000.

Washington, who has not been seen in public since 1799, doesn’t have to worry about his credit rating. The library is putting him in the same category as the kids.

"We're not actively pursuing (Washington's) overdue fines," head librarian Mark Bartlett told the Daily News last year. "But we would be very happy if we were able to get the books back."

While this seems like opening the vault and inviting bank robbers to come back and pocket what they missed, library officials stress that reading, not money, is why libraries exist.

Supernova wrote:I think it's a good idea. Some people have been sounding off on it, and a lot agree kids often have to rely on their parents to make sure the books are taken back in time, and to bring forth the money for the fines in cases where the kids aren't given any money of their own, and especially in cases like that 10 year old who lives in the shelter, you can be sure his mom doesn't have the money to pay for his fine but since he can read 666 books in 3 months, he shouldn't have any trouble working off his fine.

RedBedroom wrote:
If a ten year old is reading 222 books a month average, he isn't checking out the right kind of books for his age, even if he falls shy of his age appropriate reading level.

Supernova wrote:

I don't think I get it.

RedBedroom wrote:

Maybe I am lost...but if he reads 666 books in 3 months, then that would average out to 222 books per month. A ten year old reading that many books is a high number as they should be able to read youth chapter books at that point in their life. At 222 per month, that averages out to be three plus per day.

The thing I couldn't figure out is, assuming they or most of them anyway are children's books he's reading, where do they get that many from? Of course ours is a very small one in comparison probably for any library, but the children's area is THE smallest section of the library, most books are from years or decades ago and the shelves are all only half full and every year more get pulled off for the book sales.