After more than six months of being formally fine-free, the Woodstock Public Library is seeing material coming back faster than before, and increased participation in its services.

The change, taking place in practice almost two years ago and becoming permanent in September, was part of an effort to help economically disadvantaged people in the area who wanted to use the library’s materials but had fines preventing them, library Director Nick Weber said.

“Overall, it’s been very positive,” Weber said. “We wanted to get rid of a barrier to everybody, but particularly to those who feel the pinch of those fines the most.”

The library started the practice shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic began. Weber said it was enacted after it became clear the pandemic was going to have a long-term effect on those in the area.

“At that point, it was primarily economic because people were struggling, businesses were closing,” he said. “Collecting fines just seemed wrong.”

Residents still remain accountable for the material however, Weber said. An account is blocked after material is two weeks late, which was reduced from the previous policy of 44 days. This change has helped as well, Weber said.

Hot spots are a popular item with libraries too and are an item the library still charges $1 per day for being late, according to its website. It also charges replacement fees for lost material.

While there was a spike in accounts being blocked after the policy was enacted, Weber said it’s gotten better as residents became used to it.

“We get our materials back faster,” Weber said, “so the material is available for other people to check out.”

The change put Woodstock in a growing group of libraries in the area that moved to fine-free systems. Crystal Lake Public Library made the change two years ago, Public Relations Coordinator Stephanie Price said.

Crystal Lake is a member of the Cooperative Computer Services, a consortium containing almost 30 libraries, Price said. The change was made after the consortium opted for a policy that automatically renewed books when there wasn’t a hold on the item.

That change pushed Crystal Lake to go fine-free, as the policy drastically reduced the number of fines being levied.

“A lot of libraries were heading that direction,” Price said.

Another member of the consortium, the McHenry Public Library District, has not yet made the leap to fine-free.

The Woodstock Public Library lost a little revenue from the change, Weber said, but it’s a drop in the bucket compared with its $2 million budget.

Lost revenue has also been worth the trade, he said. People come in more regularly than they did before, which he suspects were those bogged down with fines. Weber said in most cases, those are disadvantaged individuals, who are the ones officials want to be using the library the most.

Adding to that, the library’s numbers were put “out of whack” because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Weber said, but the facility is nearing a similar level of use when compared with years before 2020.

“The way we look at it is we’re getting so much more participation from the community,” he said. “Finding ways to cover that small gap is well worth it.”