Cape Town: City libraries will once again provide young patrons with the opportunity to return books without the penalty of a fine. The learners were encouraged to return books during the first week of the winter school holiday.
The Libraries and Information Service of the City of Cape Town will observe a fine free week for patrons up to the age of 17, during the week of Monday, June 30, 2025 till Saturday, July 05, 2025. The amnesty applies at every City of Cape Town public library. Patrons may return the items to any branch, regardless of where they were borrowed from.
Member of the Mayoral Committe for Community Services and Health – Councillor Francine Higham said that the Fine Free week during the school holiday is a wonderful opportunity for young readers to return books and enjoy many activities at libraries.
According to Higham, it is also an opportunity for learners to join and become a member at their nearest library. The libraries are popular knowledge centres to visit with family and friends.
They sincerely hope that late items will be returned so that other patrons and new members also get the opportunity to enjoy the returned item. He urged them all to support this initiative to return library material to the shelves where they belong.
The covered items during the amnesty week includes all overdue children’s and young adult books, comics, audiobooks, magazines, DVDs and CDs.
Notably, the replacement fees for lost or damaged items will still apply with only late-return fines that are waived. The objective of the fine free week is to give young readers a clean borrowing slate for the new term.
To make this week more interesting, library personnel will pair the amnesty with indoor holiday activities, such as anime drawing workshops, coding boot camps, chess tournaments and mobile science centre visits.
The previous Fine Free week took place during the South African Library Week from March 17 to 23, 2025 and saw 13,178 library items getting returned. The residents are invited to join one of the 102 libraries across the metropole.