Well, we at St. George's need the fines to replace the
stolen textbooks.
We used to have a variant on no fines, which was a fixed
admin charge for book X weeks overdue and was the same
price for all books due back on the same date. Readers did
not like it and/or did not understand this charge.
We scrapped it and introduced traditional variable fines
and they seem more than happy to pay up even though the
amounts they might have to pay far exceed the amount we
previously charged.
marina
On Wed, 16 May 2001 17:19:36 +0100 Gwenda Latham
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hello fellow lislinkers
>
> I am looking into policies on fining and wonder whether any
> academic libraries out there have successfully introduced a
> no-fines policy.
>
> If so:
>
> What measures did you take to encourage users to return
> books on time?
>
> Did you have problems with users playing the system and
> holding on to books until assignments/exams were finished?
>
> We found that several students took out all the books they
> needed so were not worried when a 'stop' was put on further
> borrowing. Other students who put reservations on these
> books had no chance of getting them unti it was too late.
> The offenders then simply returned the books and had their
> borrowing rights re-established with no penalty.
>
> I'd be grateful for any comments.
>
> Many thanks
> Gwenda
-----------------------------------
Marina Bruce
Deputy Librarian
St. George's Hospital Medical School
University of London
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Opinions expressed those of the author and not the
institution
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