Wave Goodbye to Late Fees. We’ve Gone Fine Free!

The Rancho Mirage Library and Observatory is always striving to improve our services and offer more to the community. As many libraries have begun to do across the country, we evaluated our policies on fines – and what they do to our patrons. Fines are supposed to encourage the timely return of materials, but they have not had that effect. Instead, fines have created a barrier that stops people from being able to use our resources. In many cases, these are the people who need our resources the most. The City of Rancho Mirage created this facility and has continued to encourage its growth to help others pursue lifelong learning. In following that directive, the Rancho Mirage Library and Observatory will be eliminating fines.

This does not mean that patrons can simply check out materials and never bring them back. It means that an item that is a day or two late is not a big deal. Because an item that is a day or two late is not a big deal.