CHILDREN who have been blocked from borrowing their favourite titles from Bolton's libraries because of overdue fines will soon have access to the works of Roald Dahl, J.K Rowling and more once again.

Thousands of children are expected to have their outstanding charges for overdue library books waived, in a bid to get more youngsters reading.

As well as considering the cancellation of all historic fines for children across the borough, Bolton Council is expected to announced an amnesty on all children’s library books that haven’t been returned.

There are currently 7,322 children in Bolton who have outstanding charges on their library membership, and 2,167 of those have had their borrowing privileges suspended because of fines and charges.

But in an effort to 'lift the pressure' on families, almost £45,000 of charges could now be written off.

Cllr John Byrne, cabinet member for culture, youth and sport, said: “Being a member of a library and interacting with everything it offers can be so rewarding for young people, and we’d like to encourage more children in the borough to join us.

“However, if a child has an outstanding fine for an overdue book we felt that this could create a barrier to them returning and enjoying the library to its full potential. The first step we took was to eradicate fines for children earlier this year, to bring us in line with other Greater Manchester authorities and we received a positive response.

“The next step is to consider the proposals to write-off any existing fines which we hope will lift the pressure on families who felt they could no longer visit their local library.

"We look forward to welcoming new — and former — members to our fantastic library service.”

More than 200,000 children’s books are borrowed in Bolton every year, the most popular of which is Roald Dahl’s Matilda.

The total of all outstanding library charges for children currently stands at £44,453, more than £31,000 of which consists of replacement costs for non-returned items.

Outstanding library fines total £9,378, while the council has also calculated administration fees of £2,000 and postage costs of £1,285.

Of the 59,700 children aged 15 and below in Bolton, 9,830 — 16 per cent — have borrowed a book in the past 12 months.

The percentage of Bolton children achieving expected levels of literacy in the Early Years Foundation Stage is 68 per cent, below the 72 per cent average in England.

The council says that the amnesty on non-retuned books should help offset the cost of replacing lost items, adding that the fact that historic fines are ‘difficult to collect’ should be taken into consideration when examining the financial implications of this scheme.

This plan, expected to be approved at a town hall meeting on Monday, is being introduced alongside a new ‘Children’s Manifesto’, a booklet that will presented to each child when they join their local library. he booklet will highlight pledges that staff make to children when they use the library and suggests how children can make the best use of the service.