Thanks to Mississippi Valley Montessori School for their support. Located in West St. Paul since 1967, they’re an AMI-accredited Montessori school serving children up to age 6. Email us for more info.
Effective January 2, Dakota County Library is no longer charging any fines for overdue materials.
What: Dakota County Library will no longer charge overdue fines for anyone. “Removing overdue fines is good for the community,” read a press release from the county. “Everyone, no matter their circumstances, should have access to library resources.”
Why: “Daily overdue fines can act as a barrier for some people to use the library and removing the fines makes it easier for people to access the many resources Dakota County Library has to offer,” said Library Director Margaret Stone. “We saw an increase in youth library use when fines were removed from youth materials and I look forward to a similar experience now that overdue fines are removed for all materials.”
How’s it work:
- Items still have due dates and need to be returned on time.
- Any item overdue more than 42 days will be considered lost and the replacement cost will be billed to the account.
- Anyone who was previously blocked from checking out items can once again use the library.
- Library accounts with charges of $50 or more cannot check out items.
Past success:
- Fines on children’s and youth materials were dropped in 2021. As a result, more children’s items were checked out, more youth received library cards, and items were returned at a similar rate.
- The library has previously seen a boost in usage when they dropped fines, such as a fine forgiveness event in 2019.
- When St. Paul dropped fines, they saw long-overdue books return and users come back in droves.
Moving to no fines: Libraries around the country are dropping fines. In the seven-county metro area, Anoka and Carver counties are the only ones that still charge fines.
Kaposia Library Opening
In other library news, the new Kaposia Library in South St. Paul will open on February 20 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that evening beginning at 5 p.m.
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