For Young Readers, a Chance to Work Off Library Debt

Marcus Yam for The New York Times Luis Palaguachi, 15, is among young library patrons who have taken advantage of a program in Queens that allows users to eliminate fines for overdue books by reading in library branches.

On a recent Thursday night, Mark Munoz sat in the library branch in Corona, Queens, holding his head in his hands as he read a book called “A Magic Tree House: Leprechaun in Late Winter,’’ an adventure novel set in Ireland.

The room was filled with readers, as would be expected. But in Mark’s case, his motivation was not simply the joy of reading - it was a matter of dollars and cents. By reading, Mark was reducing the fines he had accrued for failing to return several books that he had borrowed on time.

“Today is my ninth birthday, but I have to finish reading before I can go out and have a party at home,” Mark said.

Mark is just one of many young scofflaws who are taking advantage of a program by the Queens Borough Public Library intended to help younger library users eliminate their overdue fines. While the penalties for failing to return an item on time for library users younger than 21 might not seem high - 10 cents per day for a book, $1 per day for a CD or DVD - they can add up and be onerous for children from families of limited means. And once library users have accumulated a total of $15 in fines, their borrowing privileges can be suspended.

Library officials say that though they want to encourage users to take responsibility for what they borrow, they also do not want to put up any barriers between children and books.

“Children tend to lose track of their things; books sometimes fall into bathtubs,” said Joanne King, a spokeswoman for the Queens Library system. “It is important that children realize and maintain their library privilege. They also do not have much cash at hand either.”

The system’s “Read Down Your Fees’’ program, which has existed for several years, has proved popular, drawing a steady crowd of users, especially after school, to many of the 62 branches that make up the Queens Library system. For every half-hour that children read, $1 is knocked off their fines.

Some library workers have found other creative ways to get children to work off their fines. In some cases, children can read to younger patrons. At one library branch, a staff member offered classes to teenagers about preparing for the SAT or on how to wear a tie.

Queens is not the only place where libraries have come up with ways to forgive overdue fines. The New York Public Library system, which includes Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island, had a summer-long program in 2011 giving younger users a chance to read books in the library to wipe out their fines. Across the country, some libraries ask youngsters to donate canned foods to have their fines forgiven.

But at a time when many libraries are facing budgetary constraints, can they really afford to erase fines, even if they represent a small portion of their revenue Thomas Galante, the chief executive of the Queens Public Library, said he had no qualms about the fine-forgiveness program.

“We don’t see the program as costing us money, although it does consume more staff time since they have to work with children,’’ he said. “But it is worth the effort. I don’t know why other libraries may not want to have similar programs; it seems like a no-brainer to us.”

Some librarians are also flexible when it comes to enforcing the payment of fines. Jiang Jing Xie, the community library manager at the Fresh Meadows branch, said, “Sometimes we adjust the amount but would not redeem the entire fine since the aim is to make them responsible people.” She continued, “We allow them to borrow books if it is an utmost necessity for their school work, even if their fine amount is more than $15,” which would normally result in having borrowing privileges blocked.

One of the regulars at the Fresh Meadows branch was Ali Khalid, 13, who last summer had amassed over $70 in fines. Working off such a hefty penalty was exhausting, he recalled.

“I read for six hours each day for two weeks,’’ he said. “I also participated in the summer art program, and those hours were counted as my reading-down hours. But since my fines were so high, and I did not want to ask my parents for money, I gathered my own pocket money to pay $15 and read down the rest of the fines.”

After he had finally gotten rid of his debt to the library, Ali said, “I did not want to read a book for a long time afterward.”