Setting Back to Zero: NYC Removes All Fines From Youth Cards

This is a really cool story! As of yesterday, Thursday, October 19th the New York City Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library and the Queens Library have reset all youth library cards to $0.00. So, if any child had a fine or fee for overdue or lost material – they’re library account is cleared and they are now able to check out materials again.

This is huge because 20% of youth cards for these three library systems currently have blocks on them – fines or fees too high to be allowed to check out materials. Plus, almost half of those children live in high-need neighborhoods where it is more likely that it would be more difficult to pay those fines. This is so awesome because so many kids can’t use the libraries with these blocks, but the library can offer so much for them.

What’s even better is that the JPB Foundation, a philanthropy focused on working in low-income neighborhoods, has pledged to help with the revenue loss of clearing these cards which is $2.25 million. Without this assistance, the library would have a much more difficult time removing these fees as that much revenue is hard to replace. Check out this story from the library systems!