St. Helens Public Library Adopts New Services, Fees for 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 15, 2017

St. Helens, Ore. - The St. Helens Public Library is adopting a new set of services and fees in 2018 to increase community access to the Library.

In 2016, the St. Helens Library Board worked with a library consultant on a strategic planning process to establish long-term goals and a five-year dynamic service plan for the Library. This process was partially funded by a grant from the Ford Family Foundation and involved local educators, community members, the St. Helens Library Board, and Library staff.

One of the goals in the adopted plan is to reduce barriers to accessing library services. A working group of Library staff and Library Board members reviewed community feedback, library data, and an environmental scan to create a proposed list of recommended changes to accomplish this goal.

The recommended changes were adopted by the St. Helens City Council and are effective January 1, 2018. Six changes were made to the Library’s services and fees:

1. Reintroducing quarterly payments for non-resident library cards. Users can pay $10 for three months of Library access or $35 for an entire year.

2. Eliminating overdue fines on children’s and teen materials.

3. Reducing fines on most adult materials from 25 cents per day to 15 cents per day. This applies to all materials except DVDs and cultural passes. Maximum fines will be reduced from $15 to $10 per item.

4. Lowering lost and damaged item replacement fees to more accurately reflect the Library’s cost to replace the item. The replacement fee for all materials will now be the original list price of the item. The fee for a lost or damaged DVD or CD case will be $5, and the fee for a lost or damaged DVD or CD paper insert will be $7.

5. Joining the Oregon Library Passport Program on a one-year trial basis.

6. Making the Columbia Center (the building the Library is housed in) meeting rooms available outside of normal Library operating hours if staffing availability permits. The rental fee will be $45 per hour.

Library users will still be responsible for paying all overdue fines and lost or damaged item fees that were accrued before January 1, 2018.

Eliminating overdue fines on children’s and teen materials is meant to offer more flexibility to families. However, Library materials must still be returned to the Library in a timely fashion, and there will still be an incentive to encourage items to be returned. Once a Library item is more than 21 days overdue, the item will be considered lost and the borrower will be charged the lost item replacement fee. The borrower’s account will be blocked until the item is paid for or returned.

The Oregon Library Passport Program is an initiative of the Oregon Library Association. Cardholders at Passport member libraries have reciprocal borrowing privileges. St. Helens Public Library cardholders will now be able to use their library card to obtain a card at any other Passport library, including Scappoose Public Library, Multnomah County Library, and the Washington County libraries. There is no additional fee to use your St. Helens Public Library card to obtain a card at another Passport library, but there are sometimes restrictions. For example, people with cards at other Passport libraries will not be able to check out cultural passes from the St. Helens Public Library. For more information about the program and a list of participating libraries, visit the Oregon Library Passport Program website: http://www.olaweb.org/passport-directory. 

###

For further information regarding the St. Helens Public Library services and fee changes, please contact St. Helens Public Library Youth Librarian Gretchen Kolderup at gretchenk@ci.st-helens.or.us or 503-397-4544, ext. 616.