Library booking charge paused thanks to avid-reader

Council cabinet member Mark Durham said he was told about one woman who diligently returned 20 books every fortnight

A plan to charge people £1.15 to reserve a library book has been put on hold thanks to one diligent woman, a council has said.

Essex County Council was due to introduce the fees from 1 June.

However, the councillor responsible for libraries said he would "not proceed" with the proposal "in its current form" after being told about an avid reader in Holland-on-Sea.

Mark Durham told a full council meeting that she reserved and borrowed about 20 books every fortnight and returned each one "diligently".

"I, therefore, came to the conclusion that rather than unfairly disadvantage this lady and others like her, it may be better to address the issue of those who selfishly make multiple reservations and not collect them all," said Mr Durham, Conservative cabinet member for the arts, heritage and culture.

"We will not proceed with the decision in its current form and revisit how we minimise the negative impacts of reservations which are not collected."

The council said between February 2023 and February 2024, 413,000 items were reserved each year, meaning they are moved between the warehouse and other libraries, but that only about 76,000 (18%) were ever collected.

The £1.15 charge would be more expensive than neighbouring counties, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The fee would have covered reservations only - taking a book out in person would still be free-of-charge.

A council spokesperson also said it did not want to penalise people who made "good use" of the reservation system.