No More Late Fees At Salem Public Library

SALEM, MA — The long-held fear of getting stuck paying late fees because of an unreturned library book is disappearing in Salem.

The Salem Public Library has ended collecting overdue fines and will instead automatically renew items that are not on waiting lists or belong to a partner library without additional action from the borrower.

Library and city officials said the move was made to encourage more use of the library services among those who might have been warded off by the threat of late fines.

"I am so pleased that the Salem Public Library has been able to abolish and forgive overdue fines with the support of the City and the Board of Trustees," said Tara Mansfield, Director of the Salem Public Library, "This change will make the library more accessible, and we hope that the folks who were uncomfortable using the library because of overdue fines will feel welcome.

"We invite all residents to visit the library and check out the wonderful resources we have to offer."

Mayor Dominick Pangallo said the change is part of the city's commitment to "lifelong learning" and to encourage the use of both the free materials and programming that the Salem Public Library has to offer.

“Eliminating overdue fines is another step that we're taking toward centering equity in Salem," said Mayor Pangallo, who chairs the Library Board of Trustees.

More on the fine-fee renewal process and which items should still be returned by the due date can be found here.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)