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There's an additional element to factor in with A/V (and books to an lesser extent maybe) which is the availability of the item for re-purchase. I believe some rental edition DVDs, in particular, are only available for a short window of time. I guess the counter argument to the 'council worker from another department' is already in place i.e you do permit exact replacement of lost items. This may allow people in that situation to get a copy for substantially cheaper than the FRC you would charge. Of course there would be some cost to servicing an item provided in such a way but this is swings and roundabouts given that the replacement is likely to be of a better condition than the one which was lost. Robert Day Cambridgeshire Libraries -----Original Message----- From: lis-pub-libs: UK Public Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Alyson Hogarth Sent: 22 August 2008 13:48 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Replacement charges Following the great fines debate, here's a new one for a Friday afternoon! What do colleagues do about charging for replacement when items are either non-returned (borrower defaulted) or when the borrower confesses to having lost or damaged an item? At present in Middlesbrough we charge full replacement cost for both, although we do allow exact replacement of the item in the case of books. Bit tricky for AV. We were recently challenged on charging full cost for a damaged book by a council worker from another department who knew that we get a discount from our supplier. As I am currently reviewing our stock policy anyway, this is a good time to think about it. We do not think we can charge full less discount as that changes with each contract and staff would have to work out on the basis of the year the book was bought etc. Another suggestion was to have a sliding scale over several years of the life of the book. That also adds complexity to the job of the assistant trying to charge the borrower, however I do seem to remember doing this in the otherwise long-forgotten days of Cleveland County. We should be mindful of the honesty of the customer who confesses to damaging the item - but then if they will drop a brand new hardback in the bath...! Anyway, all thoughts gratefully accepted. Anonymity respected, will do a summary for the list etc. Thanks, Alyson. The information in this email is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended solely for the addressee. If you receive this email by mistake please notify the sender and delete it immediately. Opinions expressed are those of the individual and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Cambridgeshire County Council. All sent and received email from Cambridgeshire County Council is automatically scanned for the presence of computer viruses and security issues