Overdue Fines Eliminated At Parsippany Libraries, Existing Fees Forgiven

PARSIPPANY, NJ — If you've held onto materials from Parsippany libraries past their due dates, you no longer have "fine" written all over you. The Parsippany-Troy Hills Public Library System eliminated all overdue fees Monday, joining a growing trend meant to encourage greater library use.

From now on, anything borrowed from Parsippany libraries will no longer carry late fees. The library system will also forgive any previous overdue fines.

"Fines have been proven to discourage and decrease library use, and disproportionately affect low-income and minority communities," says the library system's Facebook page. "Libraries that have eliminated fines have seen library usage and material return rates increase."

More and more libraries have eliminated late fines in recent years, including many throughout New Jersey, along with New York City's library networks. In the New York Public Library system, branches in high-need communities — median household incomes less than $50,000 — had six times more patrons blocked from library borrowing because of amassed fines than other parts of the city.

The trend was more pronounced in younger readers, with about 30 percent of blocked accounts belonging to children and teens before New York's library systems. Eighty percent of blocked youth cards came from low-income communities in 2017.

"For far too long, late fines have generated fear and anxiety among those who can least afford to pay," said Queens Public Library President Dennis M. Walcott, "preventing them from opening library accounts, checking out books or even coming through our doors. I vividly remember as a child having late fines on my card and hesitating about going to the library when I needed it."

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