Effective Immediately: Lexington Public Library is Fine Free

Lexington, Kentucky (April 12, 2023) – The Lexington Public Library will be Fine Free for all materials, effective immediately, following a vote at today’s regularly scheduled monthly board meeting. Lexington Public Library customers will no longer incur fines for late, damaged, or lost library materials. Additionally, the Library has forgiven all current, outstanding fines

Lexington Public Library is making this change because overdue fines disproportionally affect children and low-income households. Late fines may create a financial barrier for people in accessing library materials. Libraries that have gone Fine Free have reported less stigma and an increased likelihood for patrons to re-engage with their library and its services as a result.

The Lexington Public Library is a center of community life that connects people of all ages with information, engages them with the world of ideas and with each other, and enriches the community by supporting learning, promoting literacy, and encouraging creativity.

“This is our way of removing any reading barrier that we can to help increase childhood literacy and improve library access in Lexington,” said Library Executive Director Heather Dieffenbach. “Fines can potentially be an obstacle that disproportionately impact people without the means to pay. Removing these fines will allow more people to enjoy our materials for education, enrichment, and inspiration.”

Patrons are encouraged to return overdue items to make those materials available to others who would like to borrow them. The Library has been temporarily fine free since March 2020; today’s vote makes it a formalized policy for the benefit of all Lexington Public Library cardholders.

For more information and a full list of events, please visit www.lexpublib.org, call 859-231-5500, or follow us on social media at @lexpublib.