Saturday, 13 August 2011

Library to Charge Youngsters

Fining pre-school children is a bad idea according to local Hedge End councillor, and leader of the Lib Dem opposition at Hampshire County Council, Keith House.
 
Commenting on Hampshire Conservatives' plan to charge children for the late return of library books Cllr House revealed an alarming statistic.
 
“Charging late fees for children is a reading tax. This all covers up the more amazing fact that the county has lost 30,000 books in recent years.  The council should concentrate on tracking down these rather than discouraging children reading."
 
 Perhaps a well-publicised amnesty would encourage adults to return some of those 30,000 books rather than putting more pressure on families already struggling with reduced income and higher prices for everything from food to electricity.

Read the full story here.
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2 comments:

  1. Jenny Schwausch13 August 2011 at 13:35

    An amnesty is a good idea and might help recover some of the books. I agree with Cllr House that this is a reading tax and detrimental to giving libaries a positive image - think again Hampshire Conservatives.

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  2. Keith Day14 August 2011 at 14:56

    Well, it could be that encouraging youngsters to read is more important than using library fines as a means of teaching them responsibility. I wouldn't want to see even one family discouraged from allowing their children to participate in the library service.

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