Don't Increase Library Fines

Last week, the University Library Council announced their recommendation that, starting Jan. 31, overdue fines at Widener and Lamont Libraries will double as part of a plan formulated by the results of a year-long study. By doubling these fines and changing the period students can have books, the new plan will impose a uniform loan and fine procedure on all the University's libraries.

Though the efficient running of Harvard's massive library system is surely in the interest of students, this new plan is not. We urge the Harvard's Faculty to change these recommendations at today's Faculty meeting. Library fines are meant to keep students prompt in returning books and allowing others to use them; the uniform loan period will surely help students keep all these dates straight as they stare at their bookshelves. However, the decision to double the fines, for whatever reason, is a poor one. Students are notoriously short on money, and students are careless, not malicious, in keeping a book past its due date.

As any undergraduate will know, the quarters spent on copying books left on reserve for Core classes, on laundry machines and on candy bars after missing dinner add up. Library fines are one more cost of the already expensive Harvard education, and an unnecessary one. The library is not funded by these fees, and the only explanation given is uniformity. In this case, the only uniformity that is relevant is the uniform burden the extra quarter per day the new policy will put on students. Harvard Faculty, reject this recommendation or send it back and ask for a better rationale. The students and their term papers will thank you.