RE: Ordinances for overdue materials

[Dale Ricklefs]

This is a message from CTLS-L. Selecting "Reply" will send a message to the entire list. --------------------------------------------------------- This is a message from CTLS-L. Selecting "Reply" will send a message to the entire list. ---------------------------------------------------------     ----------------------------------------------------- Dale L. Ricklefs, Library Director Round Rock Public Library System 216 E. Main, Round Rock, TX   78664 512-218-7010 (voice); 512-218-7061 (fax); [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.ci.round-rock.tx.us/library/library.html   -----Original Message----- From: cclib [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2002 9:07 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Ordinances for overdue materials   This is for libraries whose governing authorities have passed an ordinance regarding overdue library materials:   1.       What is the penalty specified by your ordinance? Yes—all fees and fines are in the ordinance and have been for a very long time.   2.       Have you seen a significant decline in overdue items since this ordinance passed?  (If the answer is yes, please quantify it if possible). Unknown due to the length of time this has been in effect. Doubt it would have made a difference, though. Our “lawyer letter” probably has the most impact for the folks who have more than $100.00 worth of stuff out and who have not skipped town.   3.       Have you had many cases reach the prosecution stage? We haven’t gone through the effort as not many are seriously over the $100.00 mark. But, that is probably something we should start looking at. I would consider it at $250.00 of MATERIAL costs—I’d pretty much ignore the fine cost. Getting the material back is the most important issue. Fines are just an incentive.   4.       How did your community react to the ordinance?  Did you lose borrowers? Non-issue at the time. Fines had always been collected before. The public really didn’t discern what was being done vs. the “legalization” of the practice through an ordinance.   5.       Is there anything you would change, or is there a "lesson learned" that you'd be willing to pass along? If you are already collecting fines, it will probably be business as usual. If you will just begin to collect fines, whether or not it is backed up by an ordinance isn’t really the cause for disaffection. It will be the fact that you’re collecting fines. You may loose business from those who abuse the loan period, but that is OK. If they are abusing, then they have denied access to materials to others. You may find happier customers who either can find things or can place things on hold and expect to get the material in a reasonable period of time. BTW, if people have fines less than $5.00 we let them check out materials anyway. Seems to be a good middle ground. At their annual renewal, though, they should pay up their debt.   Thanks for your help.   Peg Fleet --------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Include in body: unsubscribe ctls-l For information on CTLS-L please visit: http://www.ctls.net/document/ctls-l.htm --------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Include in body: unsubscribe ctls-l For information on CTLS-L please visit: http://www.ctls.net/document/ctls-l.htm