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'Issue figures are like sundials - they tell only the sunny hours', said E A Savage, Sage of Edinburgh and other places South of the Border. 'Cooking the issues' has long been a topic of unpublished professional discourse. Never did it myself, but once 'bumped up' the issues by repeated reminders to unaware readers that they could get two extra (Browne) readers' tickets for non-fiction only in addition to the standard two for any use. I shall be grateful if those at the library sharp end would report what their fines charges are. Such information would help us estimate whether there has been in the last two decades a real increase over, say, 1968, given inflation and average wage levels. Once we used to arrive at such comparative figures by calculating how long someone on an average wage had to work to earn enough to buy one Mars Bar. (My fee as 'editorial consultant' is 10 Mars Bars a day). All this is just one of the 'known unknowns' about charges which led to the suggestion on this list that research on fines is needed, which has excited no support or, indeed, any comment. Edward Dudley Editorial Consultant