Good news!

From 28 February 2023 you will not have to pay a charge if you return an item after it is due back or a reservation fee on items requested from other Explore libraries.

Historic charges will be cancelled too, meaning you can return long overdue books with nothing to pay.

We will remind you when your items are due back using email or sms. Please check your library account and make sure we have up to date contact details for you.

We hope removing charges will help remove barriers that may put people off using our libraries. We know that charges are more likely to impact vulnerable people, including those on lower incomes, and we are delighted to offer a little extra help in tough times.

Though we have ended compulsory charges, we are more than happy to receive voluntary donations. Please support our work by donating in cash at your library or online.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does the change take effect? 

The policy went into effect on 28 February 2023.

Will previous overdue charges be forgiven? 

On 28 February all overdue charges will be forgiven – they will be cancelled permanently. This means that any books due back on or before 27 Feb will no longer incur a charge.

Does this apply to lost or damaged items as well? 

No. Any charges for lost or damaged items will remain on your account and still need to be paid.

Without overdue charges, will people still return books on time? 

Other libraries which have removed overdue charges have said that items are still returned by their due date. We ask that you always return items on time so that others can enjoy them. We will send you reminders when due dates are approaching and when an item is overdue. If you do go overdue, until you return or renew your overdues, you will not be able to borrow any more items

What about children and young people – how will they be affected?

We will now have only 2 types of ticket – Child and Adult. Children will swap to an adult profile on their 11th birthday: this means they can borrow easily from the general collection as well as from the children’s library.

What reminders will you send out to customers?

We will send reminders when due dates are approaching and when an item is overdue. Reminders will be sent out (through email or text message) as follows: at -5 days, -1 day, +5 days, +1 month, +2 months.

Will there still be a charge for Inter Library Loans, for example from the British Library?

These will still have a £12 borrowing charge. 

What about reading group sets – are you ending charges for those? 

Readers groups pay £25 to be a part of our reading group offer, and no separate reservation charge is applied for borrowing book sets. There will be no change to the £25 charge.

Doesn’t Explore need the income from charges in order to buy more books? 

Buying new materials is part of our budget every year, and is not tied to charges. For financial year 2023 Explore has budgeted £180,000 for new books, online resources, ebooks, audio books and other physical materials. Any income from overdue charges was part of our budget, but was not specifically to buy books. We aim to increase our income in other ways and we welcome voluntary donations to help with our work.