The Rochester Public Library is celebrating National Library Week by forgiving your overdue fines. Beginning on Sunday, April 7 and going through Saturday, April 13, RPL cardholders can visit the library to have all overdue fines removed from their accounts.

RPL’s Head of Marketing and Community Engagement, Karen Lemke said, “Nationally, many libraries have done similar fine amnesty events, and some libraries have removed fines altogether. Our library board is interested in learning more about how overdue fines affect library patrons. The Fine Forgiveness Week will help us gather important data around whether or not fines create a barrier to access.”

The week of fine forgiveness comes at a time library staff is gearing up for a busy construction season. The City of Rochester’s Public Works department will start work on the 1st Avenue Sewer project in May, which will involve closing off a portion of 1st Avenue SE, adjacent to the library. Lenke said, "We’re hoping to bring all RPL customers to the library or bookmobile to celebrate with us, and also learn more about how construction projects will impact access to the library this spring.”

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