Darlington County Library ends overdue fines on all children’s items
The Darlington County Library System will end charging overdue fines on all children’s items June 1st. All past overdue fines will be waived and no future overdue fines will be charged on any children’s items.
The Library’s Board approved a policy of no longer charging overdue fines on children’s materials at its May Board meeting. The Library wants to encourage children to read because their success in the future depends on their ability to read. Not allowing a child to check out a book because of an unpaid overdue fine can have a lasting impact on a child’s life.
“It is heartbreaking to see the expression on a child’s face when told they cannot check out the books they have selected because of an unpaid overdue fine,” said Director Jimmie Epling. “We hear parents at times tell their child ‘you cannot check out any books because we cannot afford to pay the fine if you keep them overdue.’ Many families face difficult choices because of a tight budget and cannot simply cannot afford to pay an overdue fine.” The Library believes it is more important to promote reading and to remove obstacles that will prevent children from becoming readers.
Overdue fines on children’s items make up only a tiny portion of the Library’s budget. The Library will revisit this policy in one year to determine its impact on our budget.
The change comes just in time for the 2017 Summer Reading Program, “Build a Better World,” kickoff June 6th and 7th. The first event will be renowned storyteller Donna Washington presenting her program “One-derful!” on June 6th at our Darlington (10 a.m.) and Lamar (2 p.m.) locations and our Hartsville (10 a.m.) and Society Hill (2 p.m.) locations on June 7th.
The Library sponsors a summer reading program. Children, teens, and adults can register now to join the fun at www.darlington-lib.org. Choose your age group, “Early Literacy” (listener or beginning reader), “Children” (independent reader), “Teens” (12–19), or “Adults” (20-older). Then stop by the Library location nearest you to pick up a Summer Reading Folder with the guidelines, a summer performance program schedule, a reading log, a “READ” tattoo, a bookmark, and more. Then record the books you read or listen to on your paper log or online.
“We do a summer reading program every year because as any teacher will tell you, children need to continue to read during the summer break to maintain, otherwise they may experience the ‘Summer Slide’ in their reading skills,” said Director Jimmie Epling. “If a child does not continue to read during their summer vacation, his or her reading skills may slip two months or more behind a child that continues to read during the summer. We want to inspire children and teens to continue reading during their time off this summer with our program. This is one way we help Darlington County’s children be successful.”
The Darlington County Library System always looks forward to the summer reading program. This year we want everyone to discover how everyone can contribute to “Build a Better World” this summer.
For more information, call or visit the Library’s branches or visit our website at www.darlington-lib.org.