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And we automatically remove patrons with fines only. We go through the records regularly and when people haven't used us for 2 years we delete them and the funds owed, if $20.00 or less. This is fines only. If they owe a book, we may leave them in forever, but we have found that most of our debt are to people who have skipped town. We don't use a collection agency, but we have a system where court puts a stop on their driver's license, so when they renew the driver's license, they have to pay both court and the library. And, if they are stopped, they have to pay the fines and fees through whatever jurisdiction they live in, and we get reimbursed that way. It becomes very expensive for them through the court system in fees and fines. When we did warrants, court costs alone exceeded $250.00. With the newer system, it is an additional $50.00. As far as the kids are concerned, we normally leave them in the system because we feel the parent is responsible and the charge goes against the parent. -------------------------------------------- Dale L. Ricklefs, Library Director 216 E. Main Street, Round Rock, TX 78664 512-218-7010; fax: 218-7061; [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.roundrocktexas.gov/library. Please note that our city has instituted a spam blocking program. Some business-related mails are being blocked or you may receive an erroneous "mailbox full" type of message. If I have not responded to your email (and I almost always do), please resend to my personal account at [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> . Foreign emails, hotmail accounts, and some yahoo and .org accounts are the common extensions being blocked. I am sorry for this inconvenience. ________________________________ From: Laurie Mahaffey [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2007 8:13 AM To: 'Jennifer Patterson'; 'Dianne'; 'CTLS-L' Subject: RE: [ctls-l] library bad debt This is a message from CTLS-L. Selecting "Reply" will send a message to the originator. Selecting "Reply to All" will send a message to the entire list. --------------------------------------------------------- Dianne's library is a library district. Those of you who are library districts, and independent non-profit libraries, have more freedom to set your own policies regarding delinquent patrons. Libraries attached to city, school district, or county government will have to work out policies with those entities. Jennifer's advice is right on target. Laurie ________________________________ From: Jennifer Patterson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 6:18 PM To: 'Dianne'; 'CTLS-L' Subject: RE: [ctls-l] library bad debt This is a message from CTLS-L. Selecting "Reply" will send a message to the originator. Selecting "Reply to All" will send a message to the entire list. --------------------------------------------------------- Well, what I learned in my "PLA Library Boot Camp" last November is that your policies should be compatible with your goals and objectives (i.e. with your long range plan). So if one of your objectives is to increase the percentage of citizens who are active cardholders, you may not want to turn the delinquent ones over to a collection agency (because this makes them very mad). And certainly you will get some positive PR out of having an armistice day, or waiving overdue fines that are over 5 years old, or forgiving patrons who incurred fines while they were minors (and they're now adults). On the other hand, if one of your goals is to increase program income (revenue), you might very well want to turn over your delinquent accounts to a collection agency and let them send out the threatening letters. Austin Public Library uses a collection agency and they have certainly increased their collection rate! However, they didn't go all the way back to prehistoric fines, I don't think. You might want to talk to Tom Moran (512) 974-7452 about their experience and the name of the company they use, which specializes in library collections. Hope this helps, Jennifer Patterson ________________________________ From: Dianne [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 2:50 PM To: CTLS-L Subject: [ctls-l] library bad debt This is a message from CTLS-L. Selecting "Reply" will send a message to the originator. Selecting "Reply to All" will send a message to the entire list. --------------------------------------------------------- Just curious as how other libraries handle fines, overdue amounts that are essentially uncollectable. Are you writing it off? Are you just forgiving the amount? Do you report them to the credit bureau? Do you send their account to collections? Do you differeciate between those who return the items late and those who keep the items? THanks, Dianne Koehler Wells Branch Community Library Dianne Koehler
