Franklin trustees debate eliminating overdue fines after Wauwatosa presentation

The Franklin Public Library board of trustees on July 28 heard a 45‑minute presentation from Peter Loeffel, director of the Wauwatosa Public Library, about Wauwatosa’s phased move to a fine‑free circulation model and how the change affected circulation, blocked accounts and municipal budgeting.

Loeffel said Wauwatosa eliminated children’s overdue fines first (implemented around 2019–2020) and later removed adult overdue fines, and described the rationale: “Overdue fines are a barrier for access,” he said. He told trustees the library kept fee charges for lost or damaged items and continued to block cards for items not returned after 28 days.

The presentation gave several operational details trustees said they wanted to see before making any policy change. Loeffel said the Milwaukee County federated system governs loan periods and that Wauwatosa standardized nearly all loan periods to three weeks to reduce confusion; he also described improved notice and renewal options and said, “Overdue fines don't statistically have a significant impact on when things re get returned. A fine doesn't necessarily mean an item's gonna be returned on time or not.” He added that Wauwatosa still budgets and collects some fines under the current inter‑library rules and that the system retains fines paid where they are collected.

Trustees pressed for local financial detail. Loeffel reported past fines revenue trends at Wauwatosa (he cited $104,000 in overdue‑fine revenue in 2014 falling over time with system changes) and said the community and city covered the majority of the one‑time revenue gap when children’s fines were removed: the city funded about $36,000, which he estimated cost the average Wauwatosa household roughly $1.53 per year at the time. He also told trustees that at one point roughly 71% of blocked cards in his system were blocked solely because of outstanding fines even though those patrons had returned materials.

Board members discussed several options, including a phased approach (start with children’s materials), forming an ad hoc committee, and preparing a formal package for the city finance committee that shows proposed revenue offsets or budget adjustments. Trustees asked staff to provide detailed, itemized numbers before the board votes: a breakdown of the library’s annual fines revenue by material type (children’s vs. adult), how much revenue is retained when fines are paid at other member libraries, and estimates of the net budget impact in Franklin.

No formal policy change was voted on July 28. The board agreed to continue discussion and review a staff package at the next meeting that will include revenue breakdowns and proposed options to present to the city.