Bayside Council’s amnesty on library fines for overdue items will end this month.
Bayside Council endorsed a library fine amnesty and agreed to abolish future fines on overdue library items at a Council Meeting on Wednesday 10 March 2021.
The amnesty was due to end on 30 June 2021 but was extended due to Covid restrictions / library closures.
Now that COVID-19 restrictions are easing and library operations returning to normal the amnesty has helped encourage members to return overdue items.
“It was a great initiative and was adopted by many other libraries,” Mayor Dr Christina Curry said.
“Since the amnesty started members have returned more than 5000 items that can once again be borrowed by someone else.”
The amnesty on overdue items will finish at the end of March 2022.
If you have returned all your items and still have outstanding overdue fines, the library will accept the donation of non-perishable goods for the Bayside Women’s Shelter and waive your overdue fines until the end of March.
Council spends about $500k every year on library items that are available to the community. If an item is not returned it means someone else is missing the opportunity.
From April a new system will be in place.
Rather than paying daily overdue fines, members with overdue items will have restricted access to the library.
They will not be able to borrow items, use the PCs and photocopiers, or study rooms until the items are returned.
Some charges may still apply if outstanding items become long overdue.
