I was sad to read in the Aldershot News and Mail that Hampshire libraries may be reverting back to charging children fines for over due books.
Both my girls enjoy books and we take regular trips to the library. But like many busy working families we do return books late. Now some could argue that it is selfish for us to keep them for longer than allowed but I have never seen a shortage of children's reading material in a library and if I was organised, we could extend the time we keep them by renewing online or over the phone anyway.
The worry that I may be late and the costs incurred, would certainly make me think harder about our visits to borrow books. So in an effort to rake in more funds for Hampshire County Council, it is the children that loose out in the end.
Other free services are also set to become chargeable, such as reserving children’s books, renewing books borrowed from other libraries and reserving large print books.
The council advises users will be given advance notice of any changes and hope to collect email addresses from borrowers, so that notices can be sent advising books are due back within two days.