If you’ve shied away from your local library because of overdue book fines, you’re in luck.

The St. Paul Public Library system has officially done away with overdue fines — but you’d still get charged eventually for materials you don’t return.

The decision, which allows some 51,000 patrons with blocked accounts to return to the library system, stems from months of discussion within library administration and with St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter’s office.

Citing growing bodies of research showing that overdue book fines do more to block and repel low-income patrons than generate cash, Carter announced in August that eliminating the fines would be one of the priorities of his 2019 budget proposal.

The St. Paul City Council approved the city and library system budgets last week.

On Wednesday, the library system issued a public reminder that fines are now a thing of the past for all overdue materials, but replacement fees for books, music and other checked-out items that are never returned can still be billed in full to patrons.

Those bills are sent, eventually, to collections agencies: “Most items that are overdue by 35 days or more will be considered lost, and you will be billed for them. If you return the items, the bill will be cleared from your account.”

The fine forgiveness has irked some traditionalists, who consider paying library fines a rite of passage and a mark of responsibility for young people.

It also required the city to find $215,000 to offset the lost fine revenue for 2019. The library system, however, had long done away with overdue fines for children’s books.

A report last year in the Library Journal, which chronicles the library industry nationwide, found that 92 percent of all libraries still levy fines, though a growing number of libraries were eliminating them.

The report also noted that fine collection was widely reported as stressful for library staff and a potential “barrier to community goodwill” and community access, and comes with a cost of its own: “The time spent collecting these fees can use up hundreds of dollars in staff time from library budgets.”

The St. Paul Public Library system said in its written announcement Wednesday that the community “is stronger and healthier when people have access to the programs, services, and materials they need to pursue their educational, career, family, and life goals.”

They also noted that, given the increase in online borrowing, fines are not a sustainable form of revenue for the system.

“Money collected from fines and fees has gone down steadily for the past 10 years,” said the release, which also noted that “studies have shown that small fines have no impact on return rates.”

More information is online at sppl.org/fine-free.