Starting Sept. 2, the Stark County District Library will stop charging fines for overdue library materials.�

Every so often, James Ikins is out of town for work when the Stark County District Library notifies him that his borrowed materials are due.

“In some cases, I’ve called the library and said, ‘I’m now in North Africa,’ ” said Ikins, who travels throughout the world for his bomb disposal job. “They usually work with me.”

Ikins soon won’t have to worry about calling in. Starting Sept. 2,

the Stark County District Library, including all 10 branches, will stop charging fines for overdue materials.

It also will give patrons who currently owe a fine a chance in September to have their penalty waived when they donate a nonperishable food item to the Stark County Hunger Task Force.

The district, which saw 1.4 million visitors last year, will become the largest library system in Ohio to go fine-free. The new designation has both supporters and skeptics.

NEW CONCEPT

Tena Wilson, executive director of the Stark County District Library, said the no-fine policy is one piece of the district library’s effort to reposition itself so it can remain sustainable in the face of competition from the Internet, Amazon, Kindle and Netflix. She said convenience is a determining factor when people decide where to go for information, and for many patrons, fines are an inconvenience. For some patrons, fines have become a barrier, she said.

“The old way of thinking was, ‘This is our stuff and we have to protect it.’ The new way of thinking is that, ‘This is your stuff and how can we help you (access it),’ ” said Wilson, noting that the district relies on a property tax levy for funding.

In September, the library also will launch its new image called “The Smart Store — Where everything is free.”

“We can’t compete with Google and Amazon for a store, but they can’t compete with free,” Wilson said.

The district’s website will carry the trademarked Smart Store concept and show how it applies to different patron needs: Start Smart (early literacy), Stay Smart (lifetime learning) and Share Smart (community involvement). Wilson said the Main Library also will unveil its new Smart Spot on the second-floor of the library that will include a new makerspace that allows visitors to meet and create using the library’s new 3-D printer, sound booth and video equipment.

“We’re more than books, we’re a place for gathering,” Wilson said. “We’re trying to remove those stereotypes that it’s a shooshing environment.”

As district officials examined how it could update its services to attract more patrons, Wilson said, they discovered that it cost more money in staff time for the tracking, collecting and accounting of the overdue fines than the $188,000 the district collects in penalties each year. She said they also found that the fines tend to penalize the library’s loyal customers the most. She said figures show that more than 90 percent of the district’s 102,700 active cardholders owe less than $25 in fines.

Under the new no-fine policy, borrowers still will receive reminders when their library materials are due and when they have become overdue.

After the materials have been overdue for more than 28 days, the library will assume the items are lost and will send the borrower a bill for the material’s replacement cost.

“The incentive to return (an item) is what it has always been,” Wilson said. “If you don’t return it, you have to pay for it.”

Sixty days after the due date, the library will turn over any fines of $25 or more to the district’s collection agency, just as does now. Patrons also must pay for any materials that are damaged, just as they do now.

“Time will tell, but we believe most people will bring their materials back in time,” Wilson said.

SKEPTICAL

Some employees and library patrons are less optimistic.

Judy Hanna, administrative organizer with Service Employees International Union 1199, which represents most Stark County Library District employees, said union members question how the district will persevere without the fine money it now collects and without the money the district will lose when borrowers have no incentive to bring back items.

“We do see fines as a revenue generator,” she said. “(Employees) think some of the materials will never see the light of day.”

She said union employees also worry about the customers who try to request an item that’s already checked out.

“Now, we can’t guarantee when those materials will return,” she said.

She said employees believe there are better ways to promote the library and its services. She added that the library does have the discretion to waive fees or fines when deemed appropriate.

“We’re concerned about revenue and the library being a steward of taxpayer money,” Hanna said. “This may not have the optimal outcome.”

Regina Perrine, a librarian at Madge Youtz branch, said another concern with the new policy is that it removes the limits on how many types of materials patrons can borrow at once. For example, cardholders currently are limited to borrowing up to 10 movies at one time. Under the new policy, a patron can have up to 50 library materials, regardless of type.

“Now, theoretically, they can have 50 DVDs,” she said, expressing concern about the availability of the library’s most popular material.

Ikins, the frequent traveling library patron, and others interviewed at the Main library this week said they can see pros and cons. While eliminating fines is nice for patrons, they worry that the loss in revenue will mean a cut in staff — and an ultimate reduction in the service.

Wilson said the district has trimmed its staff by a full-time equivalent of 21 employees since she started in 2012 by not replacing employees who have retired or left the system. She does not foresee any further reductions, instead planning to add 10.5 full-time equivalent positions.

“Our overall goal is to provide better service with fewer people by updating what staff are doing — to allow for more ‘walking and talking’ and less ‘sitting and waiting,’ ” she said. “Updating the service model with changes like express service (self-serve check-outs and self-serve reserve pickup areas) is one way we are doing this. Eliminating fines is another.”

OTHER NO-FINE LIBRARIES

Wilson has found 19 other libraries that have eliminated fines, including Delaware County Public Library, which stopped charging fines for most materials in 1986. The library, located just north of Columbus, still charges a $2 late fee for DVDs.

“It’s not a new idea,” she said. “It’s just new to us.”

Of the 19 libraries Wilson identified, 18 districts have kept the no-fine policy. The Windsor Public Library in Ontario, Canada — where a credit-card scandal involving both the library’s former chief executive officer and board chair resulted in major changes last year — reinstituted the fines in November after a 22-month trial because the district found that too many items were going missing and that customers who reserved materials had to wait an excessively long time for materials to return.

In Ohio, several library districts are fine free, including the New London Public Library in Huron County. It made the change in December.

Anne Lowery, director of the New London Public Library, said penalties for not returning materials on time made sense years ago when libraries were limited in what they had on their shelves. But now nearly every library is part of a borrowing consortium and has the ability to obtain materials from other libraries when needed.

“We (libraries) spend so much time pursuing fines and it generates so much animosity, bad customer service situations and stress for staff arguing over 10-cent fines,” said Lowery, a former police officer who has served as New London’s director since 2008. “Is it really worth it with the amount of stress staff goes through? Is it worth it to punish a patron who is a couple of days late for a couple of nickels and dimes? Is that $3,000 we collect (in fines) worth the aggravation, knowing that we’re never going to see some of it again? We made the decision that it wasn’t.”

Circulation figures for the past six months show the district, which serves 3,300 cardholders, has seen a roughly 4 percent increase in the number of materials it has classified as lost, meaning the materials weren’t returned 30 days after they were due.

“There’s a certain percentage of people who, no matter what the fine is, are not going to bring it back,” she said.

She said the library made other changes that likely influenced the figure, including reducing the number of days a material can be overdue before the library considers it lost.

She said the district’s loyal patrons have continued to return their materials within days of the due date.

What’s been the most positive, she said, is the environment that being fine free has created for her nine part-time employees and the people they serve.

“It’s just a much less stressful situation,” she said. “(Employees) are not arguing with people over fines, they are not getting screamed at. It’s a happier, friendlier place.”

She also said the Friends of the Library, a separate organization that funds the district’s summer reading programs, has collected a large number of donations by putting “guilt jars” on the counter at the circulation desk for borrowers who still feel they should be punished for keeping materials too long.

“They have collected much more money since we did that than we would have in fines,” Lowery said.

Reach Kelli at 330-580-8339 or kelli.young@cantonrep.com.

On Twitter: @kyoungREP

Overdue fines

Number of current active cardholders: 102,700

Owe less than $25: 91 percent, Average amount owed: $2.14

Owe between $25 and $100: 6 percent, Average amount owed: $53.25

Owe more than $100: 3 percent, Average amount owed: $231.19

Library stats

In 2013, the Stark County District Library saw:

Items borrowed: 3,506,134 Total items available: 1,013,832 Downloadable items available: 252,589 Downloadable items borrowed: 139,026 Physical items available: 761,243 Library visits: 1,404,000 Source: Stark County District Library Annual Report 2013