As of Monday, April 17, the Montgomery Area Public Library will be a fine-free library.

This change affects items owned by the Montgomery Area Public Library, but not neighboring libraries in Montoursville or Jersey Shore. Items borrowed from other libraries within the Lycoming County Library System are still subject to those libraries’ overdue fines.

“This is a great way to remove barriers for library patrons,” said Amber Adams, director of the library. “This is the right investment at the right time and it really helps us be a community resource for all our fellow libraries’ patrons. Times are tough for families, and we want to help as much as we can. We also want to serve the public as effectively as possible, and joining James V. Brown, Muncy, and Hughesville in becoming fine free is a great step in the right direction.”

According to the American Library Association, going fine-free is a great way to provide access to all members of a community. “Libraries provide a significant social benefit to low-income patrons, since it allows them to access a wide variety of materials and services without having to spend additional funds,” wrote David Sye, a Research and Instruction Librarian at Murray State University in Kentucky. “Fines, therefore, create an obstacle to library access that can be harder for those patrons to overcome compared to other borrowers.”

Curtis Rogers, communications director of the Urban Libraries Council, told The Atlantic that “Overdue fines do not distinguish between people who are responsible and those who are not – they distinguish between people who have or do not have money.”

Fees will still be charged for lost, damaged and never-returned items.