In observance of Memorial Day, all Phoenix Public Library locations except Cholla, Harmon and Yucca Libraries will be closed Monday, May 26, 2025.
Library Account Holders may not check out or renew library items if the account balance is greater than $25. Accounts will also be blocked for overdue Interlibrary Loan items.
For library print and physical audio/visual material, the Replacement Fee is the amount listed in the library record at the time of purchase or $25 if no price exists in the Phoenix Public Library record. See staff for replacement costs for borrowed devices.
"Our libraries offer far more to residents than books--they offer the path to a changed future. Their resources are available to all but we know that for some residents, the prospect of a late fee can act as a deterrence to using library services in the first place."- Mayor Kate Gallego on September 10, 2019
On November 18, 2019, Phoenix Public Library waived all existing overdue fines and discontinued the practice of applying overdue fines to items returned late.
The principal goal of the library is to make library services and materials available to those that need it most. Becoming a fine free library helped us further attain this goal.
Phoenix was the first of the 5 largest U.S. cities to adopt a fine-free program.
"All Fines Forgiven" means two things: Phoenix Public Library will forgive all overdue fines accrued on all library accounts and will discontinue charging a daily overdue fine on late-returned materials.
Studies have shown that overdue fines on library materials have no impact on ensuring that materials are returned on time. What research has shown is that lower income households (which are less likely to have books in the home and have a higher risk of lower literacy skills) are disproportionately affected by overdue fines and are more likely to have blocked library accounts. The potential of accruing a balance of overdue fines can also prevent some customers from checking out books and other materials from Phoenix Public Library.
We are committed to making our library as accessible as possible to those that need it most and want to:
No. Customers are still expected to return materials, preferably on time. We are still following our reminder schedule. When items are 50 days past due, we will charge the account holder a replacement fee for the item.
We will continue our practice of charging customers a replacement fee for lost and/or damaged items.
There are a little over 1 million Phoenix Public Library accounts, with a little over 100,000 (approximately 10%) of those blocked due to an accrual of overdue fines of $25. This is just the data we are able to measure. What we can't measure are the number of community members and families that either 1) have a library account and do not check out materials for fear of not being able to return them on time and accrue overdue fines; or 2) choose to not have a library account in the first place.
The Urban Libraries Council reports approximately 200+ public library systems in North America have implemented fine-free programs. Phoenix is the largest U.S. city to completely eliminate overdue fines.
The effect on the number of holds and the length of time a customer spends on a hold list for an item is one element we will be watching closely.
This will have minimal impact on our budget as the annual overdue fine collection amount is less than 1% of our annual budget. This revenue will be partially offset by an increase in the revenue share we receive from the Maricopa County Library District.
No. All Fines Forgiven will forgive all fines accrued on all library accounts.
Yes. If a customer has been billed a replacement fee for library materials, and that amount has accrued to $25 or more, their account will be blocked.
