Conyers library borrowers will face bigger fines for overdue books starting in July.

The overdue fee for books will increase from 10 cents per day to 20 cents per day, effective July 1. This change was approved by the PINES Executive Committee at its annual meeting in May.

The PINES (Public Information Network for Electronic Services) system is a statewide consortium of 285 public libraries, including the Conyers-Rockdale Library, in 143 Georgia counties. The network offers citizens a shared catalog of approximately 10.4 million items, with a single library card that is welcomed in all member libraries.

The July fine increase will affect books in the collections of all PINES member libraries, including those of the Conyers-Rockdale Library. Similar fee increases for overdue magazines, audio books, compact discs and other items are currently under review by PINES subcommittees and could be implemented in the coming months.

“Overdue fees have never increased since PINES was introduced in 1999,” said PINES Program Director Elizabeth McKinney. “More and more, however, public libraries are being forced to use debt recovery agencies, and this fine increase for books is necessary to defray the cost of that service in addition to helping fund the replacement costs of unrecoverable items.”

For more information about PINES or for a complete list of PINES participating libraries, visit www.georgialibraries.org/public/pines.php.