Late Fees Stop 60K NYC Kids From Checking Out Library Books

NEW YORK CITY — Tens of thousands of New York kids can't check out library books because they can't pay outstanding late fees, according to library officials.

Roughly 60,000 children have had library cards blocked after they accrued $15 or more in unpaid fines, said the heads of the New York, Brooklyn and Queens Public Library systems.

Many of those blocked library cards come from low-income areas of the city, which is why the three head librarians — Anthony Marx, Linda Johnson and Dennis Walcott — asked City Council Wednesday for an additional $10 million to cut late fees for children and teens completely.

"It is critical that we have the resources necessary to do this important work, remove barriers to access for children and teens," the librarians said in a joint statement.

"We must protect the progress we have made over the last several years."

This would not be the first time the New York Library systems cleared library debts for children.

A private $2.25 million donation made in 2017 cleared the debts of more than 161,000 kids, the librarians said.

The following year, the number of children and teens checking books out of the library jumped 60 percent, the group said.