Library charges

We charge for some of our services, including fines on overdue books, for reserving a book and hiring audio-visual items. See below.

You may not be able to use some library services if you have:

Outstanding charges of more than £6 on your account
Charges which are more than a month old

You will be exempt from some charges if you consider yourself to have a disability (including dementia), a learning disability, are registered deaf, blind or partially sighted, or consider yourself to have a long-term health condition. Looked-after Children and care leavers up to the age of 25 years and in the care of the local authority are exempt from library fines and reservation charges. Any exemptions from charges will be reviewed on an annual basis.

Card payment is available at those libraries with self-service machines. There is an online payment facility via your library account.

Watch the video guide on paying library charges online.

For details of how we use and store your information please see our Lancashire Library Service privacy notice.

Loans and reservations

Service or product	Charge	Overdue charges	Exemptions
Book reservations - items held in Lancashire libraries	85p per item. There is no charge to reserve eBooks. A loyalty card is available on request. Reserve five books and get the sixth one free. This applies to the standard reservation charge only.		People under the age of 18. People who have a disability (including dementia), a learning disability, are registered deaf, blind or partially sighted, or have a long-term health condition. Looked after Children and care leavers up to the age of 25 and in the care of the local authority. Books reserved/borrowed at a mobile library.
Book reservations - items obtained by inter-library loan	£5 (non-refundable)
Book reservations - items obtained by inter-library loan from the British Library	£18.85 (if this applies you will be contacted before we proceed with your request)
Audio-visual reservations including music CD, DVD, spoken word recordings (cassettes, CDs and Playaway audiobooks) and language sets.	Free
Book loan	Free	30p overdue fine per day per book not returned by the due date. There is a maximum fine per book of £8 Exception: books borrowed at a mobile library	People under the age of 18. Looked after Children and care leavers up to the age of 25 and in the care of the local authority.
DVD loan	£1.05 per week A loyalty card is available on request. Every sixth DVD/CD loan is free.	Re-hire charges apply automatically at a daily rate of 17p if item not returned by due date	People who are unable to read or use books because of visual impairment, physical impairment, deaf or hard of hearing, dyslexia or learning disability.
"U" classification DVD loan	60p per week.	Re-hire charges apply automatically at a daily rate of 10p if item not returned by due date	People who are unable to read or use books because of visual impairment, physical impairment, deaf or hard of hearing, dyslexia or learning disability.
Music CDs loan	60p per week.	Re-hire charges apply automatically at a daily rate of 10p if item not returned by due date	People who are unable to read or use books because of visual impairment, physical impairment, deaf or hard of hearing, dyslexia or learning disability.
Spoken word recordings loan: cassettes, CDs and Playaway audiobooks	£1.05 per three-week loan	25p fine per day per item not returned by the due date.	Young people under the age of 18. Looked after Children and care leavers up to the age of 25 and in the care of the local authority. People who are unable to read or use books because of visual impairment, physical impairment, deaf or hard of hearing, dyslexia or learning disability.
Language sets loan	£1 per three-week loan	Re-hire charges apply automatically at a daily rate of 5p if item not returned by due date
Music and drama performance sets	Please see the music and drama collections page for charges.

Printing and photocopying

Type of print	Charge
A4 black and white	25p per page.
A4 colour	60p per page.
A3 black and white	35p per page.
A3 colour	95p per page.
Microfiche and microfilm prints	30p per page.

Free printouts and photocopies up to a maximum of the equivalent of 10 pages in black and white per visit will be provided for young people under the age of 18. The printouts/photocopies must be homework related and/or home school related and includes both black and white and colour copies. The prints cannot be collected by an adult parent or carer.

Lost or damaged items

If an item of library stock is lost or damaged beyond repair a compensation charge is payable.

Library Elf

Library Elf is a third party service that we subscribe to, so you can access it for free to help you manage your loans and reservations.
You will need to register with Library Elf using your email address and giving them your library card number.
It will provide you with email alerts that your loan period is nearly over, but before the book is due back. You can tell it how long before and how often to remind you. It will also alert you to overdue books and reservations that have arrived.

You can manage all your family's library cards from one account and help eliminate overdue fines.