St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter Wants to Forgive $2.5 Million in Late Library Fees

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter plans to forgive $2.5 million in late fees owed to the city’s libraries, and hopes to nix the practice of charging late fees for overdue books altogether.

Dating back to 2009, there are currently 51,000 library card-holders who have had their privileges revoked due to late fees, with an average of $33 owed per person.

In an August address at Rondo Community Library, Carter said that he has spoken with “people all over the city who have even admitted, somewhat embarrassed, that ‘I haven’t been to the library in years because I have late fees.’”

Carter’s proposal will still need to pass the St. Paul City Council, though Council Member Jane Price joined Carter to express her support for the plan. During her remarks, Price used successful return rates of children’s books (which currently don’t come with fines) as evidence that Carter’s proposal would work.

“Fines don’t impact behavior,” she said. “We will continue to make people pay for lost materials.”

In its report on the matter, The Pioneer Press cites a study conducted by the Colorado Department of Education in conjunction with the Colorado State Library System, which found that “many families in low-income areas did not own a library card, or if they did, family members were reluctant to check out books because they feared having to pay overdue fines.”

“The traditional practice of charging late fees has left a lasting impression on the very people who most need libraries: community members who are economically disadvantaged, many with young children at home,” the study adds, noting that fines do little to help sustain the financial stability of libraries.

Scott Johnson, writing at Power Line, questioned the Democratic mayor’s proposal, which also includes $215,000 in funding to help phase-in the proposal in 2019.

“I have a few more questions. Doesn’t a borrower’s failure to return a book on time adversely affect borrowers who can least afford to buy books?” Johnson asks. “And how will you know when a book is ‘lost’ rather than simply ‘overdue’? Listening to the mayor’s remarks at excruciating length in the video, I am pretty sure he hasn’t thought through the predictable effects of his modest proposal.”

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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].