Not quite 'no fines', but we do have a fairly different setup here in West Dunbartonshire...
Where an item becomes overdue at the end of the loan period, the user has a 1 week period of grace (unless the item is a DVD). During this grace period, no charges are made and the borrower is not contacted.
Once the grace period ends, the overdue letter is posted to the borrower informing them of their outstanding items. A charge of only 60p is generated on sending this letter - the charge is 60p per letter, NOT per item, thus a borrower with ten overdue items pays the admin charge of 60p for the letter, in the same way as a borrower with one overdue item would also pay 60p for the letter.
A total of three recall letters are sent (each charging only 60p irrespective of the number of items outstanding), before the items are finally set to lost and their value charged for.
As a rule we try to keep as much of our service provision free of charge - we recently abolished request/hold fees, do not charge overdue fines (just the admin charge for the letter as above), do not charge for CDs, employ two full-time ICT trainers providing a comprehensive timetable of FREE courses, etc. etc.
Regards,
Richard.
Richard Aird
Senior Officer, ICT & Learning
Tel: 01389 608040
Mob: 07903 228952
Email: [log in to unmask]
Libraries Section
Educational Services
19 Poplar Road
Broadmeadow Industrial Estate
DUMBARTON
G82 2RJ
-----Original Message-----
From: lis-pub-libs: UK Public Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David Potts
Sent: 11 August 2008 10:10
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Fines etc
I think Ciara's contribution gets to the heart of the matter. The customer experience is crucial and clearly her experiences, and those of her neighbour, were not positive ones.
Does anyone on this list work for a library service that does not impose fines at all?
I'm also interested to know if anyone has tried (or indeed currently uses) a system that does not immediately impose a financial penalty for late returns?
I remember hearing about a university library that had a penalty points system. I believe it worked by users being allowed to accrue so many penalty points before being defaulted, and if that limit was ever reached, the default was removed by a single flat rate payment (i.e. not per item fine). Again, I believe this was a low token payment (perhaps £5?). I think this greatly reduced the number of times a financial penalty was imposed.
Defaulters who continually refused to return stock (usually for items required by other users) became part of the standard stock recovery procedures.
So, that's my basic question. Is there an alternative to fines so that we don't disenchant people like Ciara's neighbours?
Best wishes,
David
David Potts
Project Manager - Libraries
The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA)
Floor 1, Grosvenor House
14 Bennetts Hill
Birmingham B2 5RS
0121 345 7316
[log in to unmask]
www.mla.gov.uk
David Potts
Project Manager - Libraries
The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA)
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