'Fine-Free' Cards For Deerfield Library Trustees Could Be Cut

DEERFIELD, IL — The Deerfield Public Library board is pondering putting an end to its potentially illegal practice of providing library trustees the opportunity to be exempt from fines for overdue books and other materials.

While the amount of money in question is small — records provided by the library in response to a public record request show the combined total of fees waived for the four sitting board members who currently receive the benefit was only $48.80 — it may still run afoul of state law.

Library Director Amy Falasz-Peterson raised the issue ahead of last week's board meeting. But with only four of seven board members in attendance, any move toward ending the policy was postponed until the board's Aug. 21 meeting, when discussion is scheduled to continue.

The Deerfield library is a local library, sharing boundaries with the village and operating as a semi-autonomous municipal corporation. It sets its own tax levy, which requires approval by the Deerfield Village Board. As such, it is governed by the Illinois Local Library Act.

"Trustees shall serve without compensation," the law says, "but shall be reimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties from library funds."

Elected library trustees "should not be immune from library fines, fees and charges as a reward for their services, but are subject to the same library fines, fees and charges imposed on patrons," according to a library law newsletter from the firm Klein, Thorpe & Jenkins.

Despite the state law, the Deerfield Public Library has had a longstanding policy of providing "fine-free" cards to members of its board of trustees. Falasz-Peterson, who took over as director in 2015, said the policy is unwritten and predated her time as director. The cards make trustees' library accounts immune from late fees, but the elected volunteers can still be charged for lost materials.

"It could be argued ... by offering board members a fine free card, they're receiving payment for a volunteer position," the library director said in her July report. "Given that we now offer automatic renewals, I wanted to know if this was a benefit that the board was still interested in offering."

The exemption is automatically applied to incoming trustees, who have the option of opting out. Three board members — Michael Goldberg, Howard Handler and Kyle Stone — have chosen not to receive the perk, according to library records.

Four board members currently have fine-free cards: Board President Ken Abosch, Secretary Maureen Wener, Treasurer Seth Schriftman and Trustee Louisa Ellenbogan.

With $36.80 in late fees waived, Ellenbogan is the only board member to have accrued more than $5 in fines since receiving the exemption.

Patch requested comment from all four trustees who receive fine-free cards. So far, only Wener has responded — any response offered by other board members will be added below.

Wener said she was told of the exemption after taking office in 2014, and there was no discussion of opting in or out of the benefit at the time.

Wener said she has no problem with eliminating the benefit for trustees, noting she has donated the $5 in waived fines she received many times over through the Friends of the Library Foundation and other support for library activities.

"I would be totally fine with removing the 'fine,' but I think that it's also very important to note that — yes, maybe it does look like compensation — but if you look at the money that, personally, I've given back to the library, I've given back 1,000 percent," Wener said.

Beyond the issue of whether trustees should be exempted from overdue fees, Wener said she would also like to have a serious discussion in the future about eliminating fines for all patrons.

"We need to look at the big picture," she said. "Do we want to eliminate fines for all?"

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest fine for an overdue library was $345.14, paid to Kewanee Public Library in western Illinois in 1992 for a book due 47 years earlier.

The roughly $55,000 in fines and fees collected annually by the Deerfield Public Library make up about 1.25 percent of the library's budget. That total includes fines for lost materials as well as overdue returns.

Library records indicate the only accounts that have had more than $100 in fines waived are associated with patron services and the Friends of the Library Foundation. The majority of staff who have been granted fine-free cards have not accrued any late fees that ended up being waived.

An interactive map from the Urban Libraries Council shows a handful of libraries in the Chicago area have eliminated fines. The Algonquin Area Public Library District, the Ela Area Public Library, the Oak Park Public Library and the Vernon Area Public Library no longer charge fines to anyone. The Skokie Public Library eliminated fines for youth materials in May.