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If you are a fan of the Lubbock Public Library, but also you are someone who isn't real good at returning things on time, the City of Lubbock has a great announcement for you and probably many others in Lubbock.

Beginning October 1st, 2022, the Lubbock Public Library will go "fine free". And those who have fines with the library will see them go away and their accounts will be clear. So now citizens who use the library will no longer face fines for overdue books, audio books, and magazines.

According to the City of Lubbock, you will still be responsible for checked out items and could face fines for some things that are checked out like DVD's and other technology. Patrons of the Library with fines over $9.00 or who have items more than 45 days overdue will be blocked from checking out more items.

According to the City of Lubbock, the reason for the change is pretty simple. They don't believe fines work anymore in the Library according a press release.

We want all patrons to have access to the library. Research shows that overdue fines are not effective in encouraging the return of library materials. Instead, fines can quickly become a barrier to using the library. We know that life happens sometimes and it can be difficult to return items on time. But we don’t want overdue fines to discourage patrons from the invaluable free technology, literacy, and lifelong learning resources that our libraries offer. By imposing fines and prohibiting people from borrowing books when the fines add up, we are negatively impacting the people who may need us the most. In January 2019, the American Library Association (ALA) passed a resolution that asserted overdue fines are a barrier to equitable access and encouraged libraries to eliminate them. The ALA is our largest professional organization and we give serious consideration to their resolutions. In going fine-free, we are joining the ranks of many other public libraries across the nation.

Even though fines are going away, be a good citizen and return what you check out.

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