Fines for the late return of library books have been removed in Reading.

Fines for late return had to be suspended during the pandemic in 2020, and that suspension has been retained ever since.

However, fines did raise £22,000 the council  for the last full year of charging.

But, in an effort to boost usage, councillors decided to get rid of the fines and the fee to reserve an item permanently.

Simon Smith, Reading libraries and museum manager said around 40 other councils have already removed the fines.

During the pandemic, books could only be taken out through reservation.

Although people are able to take out books physically again, Mr Smith reservations remain high, from 6,755 reservations made in 2018/19 to a projected 27,000 reservations this financial year.

Advocating the change, Adele Barnet-Ward (Labour, Thames), lead councillor for leisure & culture, said: “The fear of incurring fines is a disincentive for people to use the service.

“Areas of higher deprivation have less use of the libraries, so this is a way that we can tackle that inequality, people who are going to be more worried about library fines, making the library more accessible to them.

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“It’s the space that they can access without worrying about being challenged about a fine on their books.

“Since 2010, a fifth of our nation’s libraries have closed, and Reading has kept every library open because we know how important they are to our communities.

“It wasn’t always easy.”

The council has already been seeing a net decrease in income from libraries, with its net financial position dropping from £1,035,700 in 2018/19 to 957,870 in 2022/23.

Cllr Simon Robinson (Conservative, Emmer Green) said he ‘struggled’ with the concept, as fines for late books have been “there from day one.”

Him and fellow cllr Clarence Mitchell (Conservative, Emmer Green) both worried that removing late deposit fines would mean a deterrent to people just keeping the books would be lost.

Cllr Mitchell raised fears that books could "just hemorrhage" from libraries without deterring people taking them.

Cllr Jason Brock, the leader of the council (Labour, Southcote) was unimpressed with these arguments, stating that cllr Robinson had “such a negative view of human behaviour.”

Addressing cllr Mitchell, he said: “You hold in very high regard something that’s less than the cost of a Mars bar has a deterrent effect. It’s a misconception of the world.”

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Cllr Brock argued the proportion of ‘lost’ books is small compared to the council’s significant collection.

So far, 101 books have been designated lost this year, from a collection of 165,211 physical issues.

In 2021, 746 books were lost from a collection of 185,396 physical issues.

Over the last five years, 2018 saw the most lost books, with 1,022 lost out of a total collection of 452,601 items.

The fines were removed at a policy committee meeting on Wednesday, September 21

Eleven councillors voting for the policy, with cllrs Robinson and Mitchell abstaining.

Cllrs Rob White (Green, Park) and Anne Thompson (Liberal Democrats, Tilehurst) joined the nine Labour cllrs in voting for the measure.