Los Angeles County libraries offer reading program to erase account fees

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- People 21 and younger can read away any fees they've accrued on their County of Los Angeles Public Library accounts.

The program, called The Great Read Away, is eligible for library cardholders 21 and under. For every hour a person spends reading in the library, $5 in fees on your account will be removed.

Any eligible person who wants to participate in the program just needs to visit an L.A. County library and ask a staff member to register them.

Whenever a cardholder visits and wants to do the program, they simply sign in and out with a librarian to track the time spent reading. The fees will be removed once you sign out for the day.

The fees that can be waived include overdue fees, lost and damaged material replacements, TTC, and library card replacements. Fees connected to renting out a meeting room cannot be waived.

So what counts for the hour or more you spend reading away those fees? Books, graphic novels, comic books, magazines, newspapers, digital databases, articles, eBooks, audiobooks, or having someone read to you all count toward your time.

For anyone who cannot do an hour of reading or may have a limited amount of time, you can coordinate a schedule with a library staff member so that you can still erase account fees.

Libraries will also provide a replacement card free of charge to anyone enrolled in the program who may have lost their card.

Since the program started in June, the county has cleared away 3,500 accounts.

To learn more, you can go to colapublib.org/readaway/.