Council owed £114k in overdue library fees

A council is owed £114,000 in overdue library charges, a freedom of information (FOI) request has found.

Norfolk County Council reintroduced these fees in February last year after they were suspended in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since then, the council has collected £71,000 because of overdue items such as books and CDs.

A council spokesperson said money raised through late charges was reinvested into the library service.

"It's free to borrow books from the library and we've found that the vast majority of items are returned on time," the spokesperson said.

Charges for overdue items at Norfolk's libraries increased on 1 April to 20p per item per day - capped at £5.60.

The council said it was to encourage library users to return items earlier to help keep them "circulating for customers".

An FOI request, submitted by the BBC, found almost 32,000 library members were subject to overdue charges in the year ending 4 February.

The most owed by one library member was £151.

The £114,000 in overdue charges were accumulated during those 12 months.

The council said overdue fees included those that had "not yet had a chance to settle their account".

A spokesperson added: "People can choose to sign up for free reminder emails to help them renew or return their item promptly."

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