Bartlesville Public Library goes fine-free to bring patrons back

Kimberly van Veen | Special to The Wiley Post
Aug. 12, 2026

Not long after she became the director of the Bartlesville Public Library (BPL), two interactions convinced Kiley Roberson that something needed to change.

While volunteering at an after-school program, a little boy asked Roberson if the library had any comic books. She said they did and invited him to visit.

"Oh, well, we used to go to the library all the time, but my mom said we forgot to bring back some books and um, now we can't go back to the library because we can't pay for them," he told her.

That broke her heart.

Then within a month, a patron asked to speak with her.

Through tears, a man told her he'd checked out DVDs for his wife while she underwent cancer treatment. He had turned the DVDs in late and incurred substantial late fees. Roberson told him not to worry and to focus on helping his wife get well.

"The relief on his face was all that I needed” Roberson said. “I had to figure out a way to make sure that this was not going to be a continued barrier for the people of Bartlesville."

On Monday, Aug. 3, the city council approved the policy, and the library went fine-free.

Roberson knew from her previous job at the Tulsa Public Library system that eliminating fines would only help Bartlesville.

"We started getting our stuff back — people were afraid of having to pay the late fees," Roberson said. "A lot of libraries around the country were starting to see that it wasn't beneficial to continue to collect these late fees."

Before, libraries often lost items because people didn't want to pay fines, according to Roberson. Instead, they never returned books or other items, and they would stop using the library altogether.

The cost to collect fees was high, too, including postage for mailing notices, staff time, tracking fees and credit card transaction fees in our increasingly cashless society.

"It all starts to add up," Roberson said. "The cost to recoup is not worth what you're actually recouping — and then you're spending tax dollars in a way that isn't necessarily beneficial to the taxpayers."

It has only been a couple of weeks since the policy was adopted, but Roberson said the community response has been overwhelmingly positive. Many people reached out and said they were glad they could start using the library again.

But not everyone is happy about the change. Some library patrons think getting rid of overdue fees was a bad idea.

"Fines are a good incentive to be responsible," said Becky, a Bartlesville resident of 39 years who declined to provide her last name.

She admitted that when she had young children, the fines were burdensome at times but, "people should have some skin in the game, though," she said.

Roberson and the rest of the library staff don't see that as a problem. They believe eliminating fees will ultimately result in more people using the library.

The BPL already has a good use rate: between 25 to 30 people are in the library at any given hour, according to Roberson. And the library continues to expand its offerings, including new classes, tool checkout and a maker space with a laser engraver, printers, sewing machines and more.

"If you haven't been back to the library because of overdue fines, we want to welcome you back," Roberson said. "Come back!"