Warwickshire County Council’s library service is re-introducing fines for overdue books from 1 September 2022, as part of the return to normal operations following the COVID pandemic.
Customers are encouraged to return their books before or at the end of their loan period to avoid incurring fines, and if you haven’t finished reading, don’t worry, it’s easy to renew free of charge!
The service operates a 24-hour renewal telephone line on 01926 499273, items can be renewed online using your library account, or in person at any library.
In order to assist customers the library service can send a courtesy email a few days prior to items being due for return to alert them to return or renew the items borrowed. Check with your library if you are signed up to get email reminders.
Find out more about renewing and returning your library items: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/renew
Items borrowed from a library can be returned to any other WCC library or mobile library or any Community Managed Library. Find your nearest library: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/libraries
Fines are incurred after the three-week loan period has expired in order to encourage the return of all items, this ensures maximum availability of library stock, particularly the most popular titles with reservation waiting lists to ensure equitable access to all.
Fines are not incurred on children’s books borrowed on a child’s library card.
Cllr Andy Jenns, Portfolio Holder for Customer and Transformation, said: “With the disruption the Pandemic caused to our library services it was only right that fines for overdue items were suspended during this time. But as we welcome more customers back to our libraries, and in line with the phased re-introduction of other charges, we need to make sure our library stock is as up to date as possible and that we maximise availability of our titles, particularly the more popular ones. We encourage customers to return or renew their books before their expiry date, before they incur an overdue fine.”
Warwickshire Libraries offer a huge range of books and resources that can be accessed for free through a no-cost library membership, available either in-person, through the online library catalogue, or by browsing the BorrowBox collection which includes a great range of eBooks and eAudiobooks. To join your local library for free, visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/jointhelibrary.
To keep-up to date with Warwickshire Libraries latest activities, information, and events, you can:
• Visit Warwickshire Libraries
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