Amnesty Week a Success for Port Charlotte Libraries in Florida

Charlotte County libraries held their first-ever Amnesty Week from October 27th to November 1st, allowing patrons to return long lost items, clear up old fines, and make donations to homeless shelters and animal shelters.

The week was prepared before patron accounts with fine balances or lost items charges are sent to Unique Management, a collections agency that specializes in recovering fines for libraries. As explained in my article "Late Library Fines Can Effect Your Credit Rating"¹, Unique gives patrons a "gentle nudge" by sending letters and making phone calls to remind patrons of outstanding fines. After one hundred twenty days, the patron's account is given to credit report agencies.

The focus of Charlotte County's Amnesty Week was to recover lost items and to allow patrons who owe fines to reestablish a good relationship with their local libraries. Patrons could return long overdue items without fines, and were also given an opportunity to waive down existing fines by donating non-perishable food items for the Charlotte County Homeless Coalition, as well as medical and toiletry supplies (such as shampoo, toothpaste, and gauze). The libraries also accepted supplies for The Animal Welfare League of Charlotte County, such as food, combs, litter, toys, and clippers. Since all libraries have paperbacks that anyone (including those who don't have cards) can borrow, providing that they return them when they are done, the libraries also accepted paperbacks in good condition. If such items were brought in, the fines were waived down according to how much they brought in, and how much they owed. If they owed a small fine, two canned goods would do, and if it was larger, they would need to have brought in more items. Teens owing fines could sign up for challenging a librarian to playing Dance Dance Revolution or Guitar Hero, having fines waived if they could beat the librarian. For patrons who owed a large amount, they were offered payment plans or to volunteer their time, doing basic work at the libraries that didn't include shelving items or checking in items.

After the week was over, 135 long overdue items were returned, and 91 people donated a total of 988 items. Patrons who did not owe fines also chipped in, bringing in canned goods and boxed food (as well as pet chow) to the donation boxes set up at each branch. The final count for the amount of pet food donated was 590 pounds. A librarian at the Mid-County Regional Library brought the donated pet items to the Animal Welfare League and said that the workers there were so moved by the amount of donations that they started crying. As for the waived fines, a total of $1,789.12 was waived for patrons, with $1300 waived by donations. The patron who had returned the most items without a fine had seventeen items, and one patron avoided over four hundred dollars in fines by returning long overdue items during Amnesty Week.

Amnesty Weeks are a popular way for libraries to both "give patrons a break" for overdue items and to recover lost items. As the ALA (American Library Association) website states, "[T]he cost of replacing a book is high, and it is cheaper in terms of both the costs of the replacement book and the staff time to order, process, etc., to forego fines and simply get the books back, using amnesty programs."² While Charlotte County Library Systems aren't planning to make this an annual event, its popularity and tie-in with donating items around the holiday season made it a success. The library staff also had fun with the week, setting up displays and decorations featuring witches, since the theme of the week was "Make a Clean Sweep", with the official logo being a witch sweeping at books. The Port Charlotte Library staff dressed as witches on Halloween, and Mid-County featured an animatronic witch next to their donation box in the lobby.

If you are patron with the Charlotte County Library System, call your local library to see if you have outstanding fines. They will need your library card number if you want information over the phone, or you can stop in your local branch with your card or ID (a driver's license with the correct address will work fine) to see if there is an balance on your card. Each library has varying hours, but all libraries in the county are closed every Sunday and Monday.

Englewood Charlotte Public Library

3450 North Access Road

Englewood, FL 34224

Phone: (941) 474-1881

Mid-County Regional Library

2050 Forrest Nelson Boulevard

Port Charlotte, FL 33952

Library Administration Office: 941-766-READ

Circulation: 613-3160

Reference: 613-3166

Youth Services: 613-3170

Port Charlotte Public Library

2280 Aaron Street

Port Charlotte, FL 33952

Phone: (941) 625-6470

Punta Gorda Public Library

424 W. Henry Street

Punta Gorda, FL 33950

Phone: (941) 639-2049

SOURCES:

1 - Late Library Fines Can Effect Your Credit Rating - Associated Content (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1042278/late_library_fines_can_effect_your.html)

2 - "Fines and Overdues" ALA (American Library Association) (http://wikis.ala.org/professionaltips/index.php/Fines_and_Overdues)