PowerPoint Presentation

Library Overdue Fines 
& Room Rental Fees
City Council Workshop, February 13, 2024

Presentation Overview
2
• Library Fines for Overdue Items
• Library Room Rental Challenges
• Staff Conclusions & Recommendations 
• Consensus Direction to Amend City Code

Fines & Fees Overview
3
• Authorized by Ordinance (1999)
• Amounts adopted by Resolution (2012)
• Fines:
– Daily assessment for failing to return items by due date
– Prohibits patrons from accessing computers, electronic 
resources, and physical materials
• Fees include:
– Replacement cost for failure to return entirely
– Damaged items
– Meeting Room rentals
– Cost of consumable items (printing, 3D printer supplies, etc.)

4
Fines & Fees Initiatives
• National League of Cities 
Program 1
– CAFFE (Cities Addressing Fines 
and Fees Equitably)
– Disproportionate impacts 
based on socioeconomic status
• American Library Association 2
– Resolution on social inequity of 
overdue fines
– Urges systems to assess 
economic barriers 
• Fines Free Local Systems
– Maricopa County
– Phoenix
– Mesa
– Scottsdale
– Tempe
– Chandler
– Buckeye
1 Source:  https://www.nlc.org/initiative/cities-addressing-fines-and-fees-equitably-caffe/
2 Source: American Library Association

Outstanding Overdue Fines
5
$206,294
62%
$127,261
38%
2010-2024
($333,555)
Glendale Zip Codes
All Other Areas

6
Key Points:
• Most fines less than $12
• Patrons across the city 
are impacted

Fines by Glendale Zip Code
7
$61,716
$42,871
$29,552
$23,237
$21,209 
$17,027 
$5,839 
$3,070
$1772
 $-
 $10,000
 $20,000
 $30,000
 $40,000
 $50,000
 $60,000
 $70,000
85301 - 30%
85302 - 21%
85308 - 14%
85303 - 11%
85304 - 10%
85306 - 8%
85308 - 3%
85310 - 1%
85307 - 1%

Data Normalized by Population
8
Zip Code
Overdue 
Fines
% of 
Population 
that are 
Patrons
Poverty 
Rate
% of Total 
Fines
Overdue 
Fines Per 
1,000 
population
85302
$   42,871 
35%
19.2%
21%
$     1,036 
85304
$   21,209 
30%
8.2%
10%
$         754 
85308
$   29,552 
29%
9.5%
14%
$         444 
85303
$   23,237 
26%
14.8%
11%
$         678 
85306
$   17,029 
26%
11.3%
8%
$         664 
85301
$   61,716 
24%
30.4%
30%
$         916 
85305
$      5,839 
22%
7.5%
3%
$         415 
85307
$      1,772 
8%
10.7%
1%
$         165 
85310
$      3,070 
1%
3.6%
1%
$         159

Annual Room Rental Data
9
208 Rentals, $26,407 Rental Revenue
(based on 31-month average)
Commercial, 
35%
Non-resident 
Non-Profit, 31%
Resident Non-
Profit, 34%
ALL RENTALS BY CATEGORY
Commercial, 
53%
Non-resident 
Non-Profit, 
28%
Resident Non-
Profit, 19%
AFTER HOURS RENTALS BY CATEGORY

Room Rental Challenges
10
• No automation of fee collection
• Reservation software is limited
• Less than ideal customer experience 
• Labor intensive process for staff
• Scheduling challenges for after-hours rentals

Fiscal Impact Analysis
11
• Less than 1% of total License & Fee Revenues 1
– $17,040 FY2022-23 collections (actual) 2
– $27,434 FY2023-24 collections (estimated) 2
• $333,562 total outstanding overdue fines 3
–62% attributed to Glendale zip codes
–21% attributed to account holders under 18
1 Source: FY2023-2024 Annual Budget, page 80, city collections are approximately $4.8 million annually
2 Source:  FY2023-24 Annual Budget, page 713
3 As of January 2024

Staff Time Analysis
12
• Fines:
– 3-5 patron complaints per day, per branch (5 min)
– 1 per week, per branch requires supervisor (20 min)
• Room Rental Fee Collection:
– Staff time for fee collection 60 minutes per rental
– 208 rentals per year
757 hours or 19 weeks

Staff Conclusions & Recommendations
13
Conclusions:
•
Overdue fines create unintentional impact on lower income areas
•
Room rental fee collection and after-hours rentals impacting operations
•
Eliminating overdue fines and room rental fees would have a negligible 
financial impact but a significant positive impact for patrons and customer 
service
Staff Recommendations:
•
Continue to assess fees for items damaged or not returned
•
Discontinue charging overdue fines (late fees)
•
Remove outstanding fines from patron accounts
•
Assess all other outstanding payables and establish debt write-off policy
•
Discontinue fees for room rentals
•
Discontinue after-hours room rentals (except for city events)
•
Require Glendale Library card for room reservations (except for city events)

Consensus Direction Requested
14
Amend City Code Section 20:
• Remove language regarding fines and meeting 
room rentals
• Clean-up obsolete language
• Refresh Library Advisory Board Powers & Duties 
to reflect contemporary operations