By Rebecca Gatto
Patrons at the Brunswick Community Library are sometimes surprised when they learn there’s no penalty for their late books—even if they returned an armload. On April 1 of this year, the little white library nestled into Brunswick’s scenic hills and fields became even more idyllic when its staff officially did away with late fines for all borrowers.
Natalie Hurteau, director of both the Brunswick and Grafton community libraries, first started to hatch the plan when she saw a pattern forming at children’s story hour: harried parents returning 20-30 books at a time, often after their due date had passed. “Their lives are busy. It kind of felt like we were punishing them for using the library,” Hurteau said. So she did what any modern librarian would do: she opened up Google and started to look for solutions.
It started with the Brun Jr. Card, a special library card that allowed limited, free borrowing. Brun Jr. cardholders could check out 30 children’s items at a time and return them fine-free. Any items in the library section decorated with dinosaurs and fun toys were fair game, from board books to young adult fiction. With the Library Board of Trustees’ blessing, Hurteau and her staff piloted the Brun Jr. Card in June 2017, alongside their annual summer reading programming. It was a huge success. “Our circulation stats skyrocketed,” she said. Of course, she had her concerns. “We were worried about, ‘How are we going to get materials back?'” Borrowers with overdue materials aren’t allowed to check out anything new or use the library computers until they return or renew what they have. And that, it turns out, is enough. “You don’t return a book because you’re going to get a ten-cent fine,” Hurteau said. “The numbers show that people do bring materials back.”
Of course, it doesn’t mean materials are simply free to take home forever. People are still expected to make things right when their items are lost or irreparably damaged, whether that means donating a new copy or paying to replace it. The Brun Jr. Card’s early success allowed Hurteau to go back to the Board of Trustees six months later and ask for something bigger: the entirely fine-free model that went into effect on April 1.