Librarian Koren Stembridge: Forgive and Forget
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By Donna Liquori -- School Library Journal, 5/27/2009 2:10:00 PM
When Koren Stembridge heard that kids in Boston’s public schools avoided the library because they had late fines or lost materials, the programs and youth services manager for the Boston Public Library helped launch “New Start,” a mass amnesty campaign for the 57,000 kids with outstanding fines. It worked. Many of Boston’s youth came back.
What prompted this dramatic amnesty program?
We’ve been thinking about some kind of amnesty program for a long time–particularly as we’ve been hearing from teachers that they had stopped referring their students to the public library because when they did, half of their class came back saying they had fines/overdue items that kept them from using the resources. Teachers are our greatest allies in introducing new generations of people to the library and we are working on nurturing that relationship.
Did everyone embrace the idea?
Our trustees supported the idea, the city supported the idea, and our new library president, Amy Ryan, was behind it as well. The timing was particularly good, given that Amy’s arrival at the BPL marked a “New Start” for the institution, and this program was one of her first initiatives. It needs to be said that this was a library/city effort, with lots of individuals lending their support to removing barriers for kids.
How does the amnesty program work?
On November 1, 2008 all outstanding fines and fees were deleted from youth patron records. The children/teens did not have to “ask” for amnesty, they simply received it. For high school students (with valid ID) who had turned 18 and had adult cards, we manually removed their outstanding fees.
Is this money and materials you never would’ve gotten back anyway?
Yes. It is highly unlikely that we would have recouped much of the money that was waived.
What was the total amount that was forgiven?
About $1.3 million—representing the past seven years of accrued, unpaid fines/fees. Knowing, of course, that most of this debt would never be collected, we estimate that the actual loss of revenue (what we would likely have collected based on past data) from the program is between $25,000 to $30,000. It ends up the program cost us about 50 cents per kid.
How do you reeducate kids about being responsible with their library materials after the amnesty period?
Our trustees were adamant about this part of the program. We created a piece of collateral that spoke to what the library had to offer, as well as to the expectations of membership. The piece was designed as a postcard with a perforated bookmark—and we made many more copies of the bookmark that will continue to be distributed to each new juvenile/YA card holder. We also had support from the Boston Public Schools. They distributed the piece (hard copy) to all K–8 students, and sent an electronic blast message to older students.
Have you seen more kids using the library since the amnesty program?
Yes, our YA new card registrations went up by 85 percent in November and many kids have come back to the library (with parents and without) to say thank you. Our circulation is also up by over 10 percent.
What’s the best part of your job?
The best part is that our mayor cares deeply about kids and is interested in all manner of partnerships/initiatives that can improve their lives. Our trustees are passionate about the library and supportive of new ideas; our new library president (Amy Ryan) is tremendous and raised the bar for this institution the moment she walked through the door, and our staff is very talented. This actually makes my job pretty easy.
