> Not really sure how else they can make sure people don't just borrow 10 books and never come back People can already do this if they want. Nothing stops you

> Not really sure how else they can make sure people don't just borrow 10 books and never come back People can already do this if they want. Nothing stops you from checking out the max number of books and never coming back. Most libraries have discovered that late fees discourage people from returning books when they forget, lose them, etc. The longer the book is out the higher the fee. The higher the fee the more likely that person will decide library membership is a lost cause and decide to never return (or use someone else's membership). Eliminating late fees increases the overall rate of books returned vs stolen.