Libraries all over the country are ending the longstanding library tradition of fining patrons for returning books late or not at all. It’s another self-destruction tactic subtler and less morally abominable than using their dedicated taxpayer funds to purchase pornography for children.
Our local government library ended late fees in the last year, so I quickly stopped returning books on time. The lack of fees was especially helpful in recently allowing me to keep for an extra month the book Albion’s Seed. I couldn’t manage to finish that magnificent tome in the usual three-week checkout period. So I just kept ignoring the “overdue book” notifications the library frantically sent. If there’s no penalty, why should I care?
Common courtesy might be one reason. Someone else appears to have placed a hold on our library’s copy of Albion’s Seed that I temporarily hoarded. That’s why I kept it overdue — because I couldn’t renew it. Sorry, stranger. Our library doesn’t penalize people for keeping books indefinitely, so I guess your hold means nothing now. I won’t begrudge you doing the same to the next person who wants to read that absorbing American history tome. It is 900 pages long, after all.
The American Library Association — the same publicly funded major library association whose current president is a “Marxist lesbian” — formally supported ending all library fees in 2019. Not surprisingly, the policy cited essentially Marxist justifications for urging all libraries to end late penalties and book replacement fees.
