Great Barrington Library Trustees Vote to Recommend Eliminating Overdue Fines

GREAT BARRINGTON -- November 17, 2022, Great Barrington Library Trustees unanimously recommended eliminating overdue fines for books and DVDs, sending the proposal to the Select Board for final approval. Library Director Samara and Christine Warner, head of adult circulation, told the board that 131 of 157 CWMARS network libraries are already fine free and that every surrounding community has made the change. The libraries collected $3,555 in combined fines and replacement fees in fiscal year 2022, with staff estimating roughly half of that was overdue fines, the revenue the town would forgo. Fines for museum passes, Library of Things items, and hotspots would remain in place. The board also adopted a library gift policy on a 4-1 vote, with one trustee dissenting on grounds the policy belongs inside the collection development document, and unanimously approved a six-month pilot of a free-art exchange display, the Petite Musée of Free Art, proposed by Sherry Steiner, at the Ramsdell Library in Housatonic.