Christmas came early for patrons and staff at Warsaw Community Public Library on Monday.
The library board voted to officially kill the concept of late fees and provide a one-time bonus for staff.
After discussing the idea in recent months, the board OK’d final plans Monday to do away with late fees and heard about what is needed to take any remaining fines off the books.
The staff will no longer track late fees after the first of the year, but the library’s outlook on damaged and lost materials remains unchanged.
To have any looming fines removed from their records for late materials, the library is asking that patrons to stop by the circulation desk and request it.
“We will waive any current fines on your record, but you gotta ask for it and you gotta show me your ID and library card,” said Joni Brookins, assistant library director.
The decision to discontinue fining patrons for late materials follows a trend at other libraries. A growing outlook is that such penalties keep patrons from visiting the library.
Officials at libraries that no longer charge late fees have indicated patron behavior about returning materials has not changed much as a result.
Brookins suggested the board approve the plan, but keep open the idea of making adjustments after the policy settles in.
Meanwhile, a one-time salary bonus will affect 38 staffers.
The bonus money is coming from unspent salary money that added up from personnel vacancies earlier in the year.
The bonus money totals about $35,000 and will be taken from an estimated $50,000 pool of leftover salary.
Board action means full-time hourly workers will receive $1,200; those working 25 hours a week will receive $765; those working 20 hours will receive $600; and those working 15 hours will receive $456, according to library paperwork.
Technically, staff referred to the additional money in the meeting as a one-time salary adjustment and not a stipend.
The money will be distributed before the end of the year, according to a copy of the resolution passed by the board.
The board discussed the circumstances behind the proposal, and then turned to Library Director Ann Zydek for her thoughts.
Zydek said the library’s finances are in “a good spot.”
“I very much want to support our team,” Zydek said.
One board member said she wished the plan could have been presented earlier in the year, but was told there are too many uncertainties about the final budget figures earlier in the year.
Zydek is the only employee who will not receive a bonus.
