Folsom Public Library ends fines, the last in Sacramento County to do so

The Folsom City Council has decided to eliminate fines for overdue books and other materials. It was the last library in Sacramento County to still have late fees.

Folsom Public Library Director Tom Gruneisen said late fees only make up 1% of the library's budget and revenue. 

"Where the difference is though is in which customers are more likely to be blocked from using library services,” Gruneisen said. “Study after study and lived experience in library after library is that those members of the community disproportionately come from lower income households. So either a fixed income senior, certain communities of color, are all families that are less likely to be able to use the library."

He said the library will no longer continue to collect the nickel-a-day, quarter-a-day or dollar-a-dine fines for overdue items. Instead, accounts with items kept for more than 40 days overdue may incur a $10 fee. 

Folsom will join many other local library systems in removing fines. The Sacramento Public Library and Yolo County Library both eliminated late fees in 2021. The El Dorado and Placer county libraries still collect late fees.

It also continues a trend for libraries around the country — from Los Angeles to Chicago and New York — which have also eliminated fines in the past few years. 

In Folsom, that also meant many patrons were already returning their overdue materials to other libraries in the region that don’t charge fines.

Council member Sarah Aquino voted in favor of the resolution to remove late fees along with the rest of the panel.

"I know there are going to be people who look at this and say 'well, you're just removing consequences for bad behavior,' because that's something that I normally would say," Aquino said. “But some of the more savvy users have figured out a way to get around this.”

The library will still charge to replace lost or damaged items, and anything more than 21 days overdue is automatically marked as lost.