We take a hard line in Hackney. If a reader owes money for overdues or lost books, we do not accept any type of reserves from them. This includes inter-library loans.
There is a grey area where "fines-free" borrowers have books overdue. If these books were very overdue or came from outside Library Authorities, I would not apply for another inter-library loan for them until they had returned or renewed outstanding items.
We have even banned a reader who persistently kept British Library books overdue.
Since taking this hard line, the number of "lost" books we have had to pay for has dropped noticeably.
Una O'Malley
Hackney F111
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