How many public libraries still charge overdue fines?
Most no longer do. At the end of FY 2024, 64% of the 8,526 profiled systems that answered the question charged no overdue fines on print materials, and 36% still charged them to at least some users. The share without fines ranges from 5% in Delaware to 96% in Vermont.
What the survey asks
Since FY 2022 the survey has asked each library one yes-or-no question: at the end of the reporting year, does it charge overdue fines to any users when they return physical print materials late? Fines here are the daily or weekly penalties for lateness. Charges for lost or damaged items are a separate matter and are not covered. A library that waives fines for children but still charges adults answers yes, so "fine-free" in this article means no overdue fines for anyone.
State by state
The table lists the share of each state's profiled systems that charge no overdue fines, with the number that still do. States with a single system show either 0% or 100%.
| State | Fine-free share | Systems still charging | Systems answering |
|---|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | 100% | 0 | 1 |
| Vermont | 96% | 5 | 134 |
| Washington | 93% | 4 | 57 |
| Massachusetts | 90% | 34 | 350 |
| New Hampshire | 89% | 21 | 194 |
| Maine | 88% | 27 | 228 |
| Montana | 87% | 10 | 79 |
| Colorado | 87% | 13 | 101 |
| Kentucky | 83% | 20 | 120 |
| Maryland | 83% | 4 | 24 |
| Wyoming | 82% | 4 | 22 |
| Iowa | 81% | 89 | 469 |
| New York | 78% | 165 | 754 |
| Ohio | 78% | 56 | 249 |
| North Dakota | 77% | 16 | 69 |
| Connecticut | 77% | 40 | 171 |
| Kansas | 77% | 69 | 294 |
| New Mexico | 73% | 25 | 91 |
| Arizona | 72% | 16 | 58 |
| South Dakota | 72% | 28 | 101 |
| California | 72% | 48 | 170 |
| Oregon | 71% | 35 | 122 |
| Rhode Island | 67% | 15 | 45 |
| Wisconsin | 66% | 123 | 358 |
| Nebraska | 65% | 77 | 221 |
| Alaska | 64% | 15 | 42 |
| Minnesota | 63% | 49 | 132 |
| Michigan | 61% | 143 | 368 |
| Indiana | 60% | 91 | 229 |
| Idaho | 59% | 42 | 103 |
| Virginia | 58% | 39 | 93 |
| Illinois | 58% | 261 | 617 |
| Louisiana | 57% | 29 | 67 |
| Missouri | 55% | 67 | 149 |
| North Carolina | 55% | 38 | 84 |
| Pennsylvania | 51% | 214 | 435 |
| South Carolina | 49% | 21 | 41 |
| West Virginia | 48% | 50 | 96 |
| New Jersey | 47% | 130 | 246 |
| Florida | 45% | 34 | 62 |
| Tennessee | 43% | 104 | 184 |
| Mississippi | 40% | 32 | 53 |
| Utah | 39% | 37 | 61 |
| Nevada | 38% | 13 | 21 |
| Arkansas | 36% | 29 | 45 |
| Alabama | 33% | 143 | 214 |
| Texas | 33% | 339 | 503 |
| Oklahoma | 22% | 91 | 117 |
| Georgia | 15% | 51 | 60 |
| Delaware | 5% | 20 | 21 |
| Hawaii | 0% | 1 | 1 |
By size of community
The largest systems are the most likely to be fine-free: 89% of systems in the 1 million+ class charge no overdue fines. The lowest share, 59%, is in the 5k–10k class.
Large systems that still charge
Of the 96 systems serving 500,000 people or more, 24 reported charging overdue fines to at least some users: Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, Hawaii State Public Library System, Fulton County Library System, Pima County Public Library, Fresno County Public Library, Gwinnett County Public Library System, San Jose Public Library, Salt Lake County Library, Kern County Library, Fort Bend County Libraries, Mid-Continent Public Library, Polk County Library Cooperative, Lee County Library System, Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library, Montgomery County Memorial Library System, El Paso Public Library, Brevard County Library System, Milwaukee Public Library, Stanislaus County Free Library, Greenville County Library System, West Georgia Regional Library, Morris County Library, Bucks County Free Library and Knox County Public Library System. Partial policies, such as fines on adult cards only, fall into this group.
Checkouts in fine-free and fine-charging systems
Within the middle size classes, the table sets the median physical checkouts per resident of fine-free systems beside those that still charge fines. It is a description of two groups, not a test of what removing fines does: the systems that dropped fines differ from the others in other ways too, from budgets to the communities they serve.
| Population served | Fine-free systems | Systems charging | Median checkouts, fine-free | Median checkouts, charging |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 250,000 to 499,999 | 76 | 46 | 4.65 | 3.00 |
| 100,000 to 249,999 | 228 | 132 | 3.59 | 2.25 |
| 50,000 to 99,999 | 348 | 210 | 4.48 | 2.33 |
| 25,000 to 49,999 | 587 | 371 | 4.43 | 3.14 |
| 10,000 to 24,999 | 1,029 | 656 | 4.55 | 3.22 |
| 5,000 to 9,999 | 833 | 571 | 4.62 | 3.14 |
The survey records the policy at the end of each library's fiscal year only, so it cannot show when a library made the change. Comparing the FY 2024 answer with later survey years, once IMLS publishes them, will show how the share moves.
A majority in most states
In 35 of the 49 states with at least ten systems answering, more than half of systems are fine-free. The five states with the most library systems show how wide the range is: New York (78% of 754), Illinois (58% of 617), Texas (33% of 503), Iowa (81% of 469) and Pennsylvania (51% of 435). Each library board sets its own policy, so a state with hundreds of small systems reports hundreds of separate decisions, while a state organized around a few county systems reports only a handful. That is also why a state's share can move a long way when a single large system changes course, and why the state table lists the number of systems answering next to every share.
Members of library cooperatives
Of the profiled systems that answered, 77% belong to a federation or cooperative, a group that can share a catalog, delivery or e-books. Among the 6,495 profiled members of such a group that answered the question, 66% were fine-free; among the 1,937 that belong to none, 61% were. Shared catalogs often come with shared circulation rules, but the survey does not record whether a cooperative sets the fine policy, so the comparison stays descriptive.
For one library, the answer sits in the FY 2024 figures on its system page, next to its checkouts and visits. The peer check does not include the fine policy; the size-class pages give the fine-free share for each class in their opening paragraph.
Reading the answer for one library
Each system page lists its answer in the FY 2024 figures. Policies change between survey years, and the answer reflects the end of the library's own fiscal year, so a library that went fine-free in 2025 will still show fines here. The state pages give the share for each state's systems in their opening paragraph.