by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian
Kids will have an exciting opportunity to clear away their
library fines at the beginning of this summer.
The Friends of the Litchfield Public Library are sponsoring a Fines
Read-Down at the Litchfield Library from June 1 to June 13. Kids earn $1 off of their late fees for every
15 minutes spent reading in the library.
This program is for anyone younger than age 18. The child can read down fines only on their
own library card, not their parent’s card.
Late fees can be cleared through this program, but lost
items cannot be paid for this way, and replacement library cards can’t, either. If you have been billed for a book or other
item that has not been returned, talk with a librarian about options for taking
care of that. The good news is that even
if an item has been overdue for years, once it’s returned the late fee will
drop to $3 on a book or $8 on a movie, and that late fee could be worked off
through the Fines Read-Down during those first two weeks of June. It’s a great time to do some digging for
those lost library books and movies!
To participate in the program, kids and teens can come to
the front desk anytime during those two weeks, sign in with their name and the
time, and then come back when they’re done to write down their ending time. They will need to read something in print
while sitting in the children’s department, in the lobby, or otherwise in view
of the front desk. Sorry, e-book
readers, but for this program you can’t read on a screen. You can read a comic book or magazine as well
as a book, though. We can only give
credit to kids spending their time reading, not simply hanging out at the
library.
For young kids who can’t yet read, an adult or older child
can read to them in the children’s department to read down that young child’s
fines. In fact, an older sibling reading
to a younger one can potentially read down fines on two cards at once!
The summer reading program also begins June 1. Time spent reading in the library to earn
money toward fines can also be counted toward the summer reading program, up to
an hour a day. However, summer reading
logs don’t necessarily count towards the Fines Read-Down, if the reading is
done at home. The summer reading program
runs all summer, and the read-down program only lasts two weeks.
There’s no limit on how much each child or teen can read
down, as long as it’s for late fees. Unfortunately,
we can’t give credit for future fines.
We can only apply reading time to fines kids already have on their
cards. So this is a good time to start
fresh and then make sure to keep track of those due dates to avoid late fees in
the future. We do have email
notifications now that remind you three days before items are due, so make sure
to sign up for those if you have an email account that you check.
We have never tried a program like this before, and we’re
excited to try it out and give kids a way to regain use of their library cards
even if they don’t have money to pay for their fines. When fines total more than $5, nothing can
be checked out with that card. Start
summer vacation by reading in the library, and then check out books all summer
to bring home for free entertainment. Thank
you to the Friends of the Litchfield Public Library for funding this great
program!
