From 1 June 2019, Salford Libraries removed all overdue charges (fines), including historical ones.

If you return any outstanding books, or if you borrow books and bring them back late, you won’t have to pay a fine.

We did this for a number of reasons:

  • We don’t want you to be worried about the cost of fines, which we know can mount up.
  • We don’t want fines to stop you visiting a library or accessing our full range of services.
  • We want customers to return overdue books without having to worry about fines, giving others the chance to borrow the books.
  • We believe our libraries and our services should be accessible to everyone

We will still need to charge for the cost of replacing books that are lost, but for any unreturned items you still have at home – however long they’ve been there – all you need to do is take them to a library and there will be nothing to pay. If customers would like to make a voluntary donation (of any amount) to support library services, that would be great, but the important thing is that there will be no compulsory fines from now on.

So if you have any unreturned library books sat on a bookshelf or under your bed and you’ve not been to the library for ages because you’re worried about the money you owe, just bring them in – we’d love to see you again.

Come and visit us and discover:

  • Books for all ages
  • Storytimes for under 5s
  • IT classes and Digital You sessions to help you understand your smartphone or tablet
  • Free use of PCs and Wi-Fi
  • Reading groups
  • Business advice
  • Children’s holiday activities
  • Free use of e-books and e-audio books
  • Free use of online services like Ancestry
  • Arts sessions
  • Events and activities
  • A place to relax in and meet friends, and lots more!