Good news for capital city libraries, there has been a 48 percent increase in teenagers using library cards in Wellington since the scrapping of late fees.
Last year Wellington City Councillors voted unanimously to wipe more than $500,000 worth of overdue library charges and scrap future fees altogether.
Councillor Rebecca Matthews, who introduced the amendment, told Afternoons the move helped libraries serve their purpose more effectively, and helped break down barriers to reading and learning.
The move to abolish fines has been widespread, with many libraries taking the step in New Zealand and worldwide. Auckland libraries made the move in 2021.
Doing likewise just made sense, Matthews said.
"Libraries are life-changing. Modern libraries have changed so much, they're so open and welcoming.
"It's not the olden days of shoosh and dusty fusty places, so I thought getting rid of library fines was another way to make them more open.
"Also, I knew librarians hate it, turning people away. And what we found with library fines is it didn't necessarily make the books came back faster it just drove the people away, so I wanted to welcome the people back in."
Wellington libraries found that when they compared a three month period from before the change to three months after, they measured:
- More library cards owned and used
- A 48 percent increase in library use by 13 to 17 year olds
- A 9 percent increase in library use for adults
Books returned late increased from 8 percent to 16 percent, "but with a reminder they still come back", Matthews said.
"One third of our library users people are saying coming to a library is less stressful than it was when there were overdue fines," the councillor said.
Any lost books were still chased with a replacement fee, "but that is less than 1 percent and it hasn't gone up".
Photo: Unsplash / Lilly Rum
Matthews believed the dramatic increase in teenagers using libraries in particular was partly down to the council publicising their no-fees policy in high schools.
"We have promoted the change, we've gone into schools, we've done newsletters because we had a good news story to tell about the library."
Teenagers were also typically a high user group for libraries, as they needed places to hang out outside the home and things to do that were low cost.
"They often are the group that spend a lot of time in libraries ... so it does make sense that it would make quite a difference."
Matthews said people who were neurodivergent had also given strong feedback that it helped them feel libraries were more welcoming.
"I've heard a lot from people who are neurodiverse or have ADHD ... saying that extra stress about 'how many books have I got? When am I going to be able to take them back?' ... even things like if you have a little cold and you're a few days late - that stress has gone."
