On September 15, the way we renew items and charge fines will change. We will introduce a new feature called auto-renewal. This automatic process may help you keep materials longer without accruing late fines. Overdue items, checked out or renewed after September 15, will begin to accrue late fines.
Auto-renewal
Our system will attempt to renew your items three days before they are due. If the item can be renewed, this will happen automatically. This applies to physical items that are:
- Checked out on or after September 15
- Have no other patrons waiting for the item
- Have not already been renewed the maximum number of times
You don't need to take any action to opt in. Auto-renewal will be activated for all accounts by default. If you want to opt out, call or visit your library.
Late Fines
Since March 2020:
We haven't been assessing late fines.
On May 4:
We cleared all late fines from library accounts.
On September 15:
We will resume charging late fines on items checked out or renewed on or after September 15.
If you have items checked out before September 15, these items will not accrue late fines. We still encourage you to return those overdue items as other patrons may be waiting to check them out.
Accounts that Cannot Borrow Items
Since March 2020:
We've been allowing accounts with high balances to continue to borrow items.
Starting on September 15:
Accounts with balances greater than $25 will be unable to borrow items.
Renewals FAQs
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Except for media equipment, you can renew physical items that are not on hold for someone else up to two times.
You can renew OverDrive digital titles that are not on hold for someone else one time.
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Auto-renewal allows us to renew eligible library materials for you. If renewal is available, you can keep items materials longer.
Please ask a library staff member if you’d like to opt out of the service.
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Our system will try to renew items one time per checkout period.
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You can renew items that other people aren’t waiting for. If an item has holds, you won’t be able to renew it. Find out how many times you can renew an item.
If your account has a balance of more than $75, you won’t be able to renew any items. You will need to pay that balance down to $75 or less before you can check out physical items again.
Auto-renewal only applies to physical items.
Auto-renewal does not apply to digital collections. That’s because digital items are:
- Returned automatically on their due date.
- Paid for with different pricing models than physical items.
We pay vendors for each new digital checkout, including renewals. For this reason, it is important to confirm that digital renewals are intentional. Please continue to manually renew digital items you’d like to extend.
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Yes, you’ll still be able to renew items by logging in to your account.
Fines FAQs
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Fines-free means that we won't charge you late fines on materials that we own.
You may get late fines for interlibrary loan items. When you borrow an interlibrary loan, you're borrowing items that we don't own. The library system that owns the materials may charge you late fines.
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Yes, materials have due dates. We still expect you to return or renew materials on time as others are often waiting to enjoy those items too. We send several due date reminders to borrowers.
Please make sure your contact information in your account is current so you don’t miss these alerts.
Find out what kinds of due date alerts are available and how to manage them.
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We will notify you if you have overdue items. If you don't return the items within 60 days of the due date, we will charge you a replacement cost for the items.
Replacement fees vary depending on the item. You will not be able to borrow physical items if you owe more than $75 in lost fees. You will need to pay that balance down to $75 or less before you can check out physical items again.
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Studies have shown that late fines are not effective. Fines can actually stop people from using or returning items to the library. Libraries with fines-free policies have reported few problems and increased use.
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Fines-free libraries report similar return rates. In addition, we run reports to let us know if we need to order additional copies of popular items.
