Does your family have library fines because of a little forgetfulness? If you have been afraid to come back to the library because of some hefty fines- rejoice! New York City’s three library systems are teaming up to give children and teens across the five boroughs the opportunity to eliminate their prior fines and fees and regain their library privileges.
The program, called “The New Chapter” launches today and runs through Oct. 31.
Patrons through the age of 17 will not be charged late penalties when returning overdue books.
Here is one fact I do know first- hand when we accrued $50 in fines last year: when patrons accrue $15 or more in fines, the library temporarily suspends their borrowing privileges until the fine is paid. Across the city, nearly 100,000 kids and teens will benefit from the New Chapter program.
The “New Chapter” program was made possible, in part, by The McGraw-Hill Companies, which made a generous contribution to pay a substantial portion of the fines for all three systems.
Although “New Chapter” is a joint program, each Library system has its own waiver requirements. For more information, please visit brooklynpubliclibrary.org, nypl.org and queenslibrary.org.