Wellington City Libraries have reported a 30% surge in new customers and over a million books borrowed by children and teenagers annually since introducing their fines-free policy almost three years ago.
The Libraries say the number of new users rose by 14% to 10,824 in the first year ending 30 June 2023. This growth more than doubled in the following year, reaching around 30% or 12,296 users. Notably, in just the first nine months of the current financial year, the number of new library users has already grown to almost 10,000.
“We’re thrilled to see both a significant increase in new library members and strong borrowing numbers among children and teenagers,” says Wellington City Council Mayor, Tory Whanau.
“This proves that our decision to eliminate fines is enabling more of our young people to discover the wonders of reading and enjoy the welcoming environment in our libraries.
“It’s also about equity – providing equal access to information, resources, and learning opportunities for Wellingtonians, regardless of their financial situation,” she said.
Councillor Rebecca Matthews, who championed the removal of fines, says the impressive increase in new users demonstrated the positive impact of removing financial barriers.
“The problem with library fines wasn’t that the books didn’t come back – it was that the people never did. Now our libraries are truly for everyone,” said Cr Matthews.
“With job losses and cost of living pressures, our libraries provide a place where cost is no barrier for rangatahi to enjoy, learn, and imagine.”
When the fines-free policy was introduced on 1 July 2022, a total of $541,198.78 in outstanding debt was written off Wellington City Council’s books. Before this change, Wellington City Libraries collected $335,171 in fines in Financial Year 2020-21 and $227,668 in 2021-2022.
The Council says statistics from the Wellington City Libraries show that the removal of fines has increased circulation and readership within the community.
As the number of new library users surged, the number of physical books borrowed rose by 2.5% to 1.9 million in the first year after fines were abolished. This initial growth then jumped fourfold to about 10%, meaning two million books were borrowed by the end of June 2024.
Children and teenagers borrow over a million books annually, and they are on track to maintain this momentum, having already borrowed more than 808,000 in the first nine months of the current financial year, the Council says.
Abolishing fines also led to a spectacular return of long overdue books – a 131% jump in the first year and a whopping 191% the year after. Children and teens returned a massive 153% more overdue books in the first year, and around 190% more in the following year, Council is reporting.
