Revealed: Bristol Uni library made more than £300,000 from fines from 2013 – 2016

The Tab has recently gained access to the library’s accounts on fines.

According to data received from the University via a Freedom of Information request, the average fine from October 2013 – October 2016 was £1.34.

However, although this might seem a small number, most students know you can get more than 10 separate fines on your individual account.

The total made in fines that people actually paid from 2013-2016 was a whopping £364,412. Even more fines are marked as ‘open’, meaning that although people were fined, they were under the limit and therefore didn’t pay them.

The Library has claimed it is unable to state the number of students fined as student data is ‘anonymised’ and deleted ‘on a very regular basis’. But we can all guess who got most of the fines (ahem arts students).

Although it is hard to tell, one can imagine that only a small number of students either get fines or will actually pay them unless they are over the limit, which until recently was £12.

Thankfully, the new fines system will mean that students will only pay for items that other people have requested, not simply ones they forgot to renew.

See more details here.