We never understood the idea behind the fine = the cost of the book. It seems the fine should be whatever the value is for mailers, checking shelves, staff time, etc. With more and more emailing of overdue notices, the hard costs are becoming less as well. We max at $5.00 as well, though we're at 20 cents an item per day-- a citywide staff decision when we were reassessing costs of doing business (staff salaries have increased immensely since the 10 cents an item per day was instituted about 20 years ago). So, there may be some logic in that. It is an art, so it seems, not a science.
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Gail Woodward Sent: Mon 2/18/2008 11:23 AM To: 'Laurie Mahaffey'; 'ctls-l' Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [ctls-l] Overdue charges It sounds like we're kind of all over the map on this. We charge .20 per day per item, with 1 day grace period and a maximum fine of the replacement cost of the item. I kind of like the policy of a maximum of $5.00 per item, though. Maybe it would encourage people to bring books back. Gail Woodward Marlin ________________________________ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Laurie Mahaffey Sent: Friday, February 15, 2008 3:44 PM To: ctls-l Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [ctls-l] Overdue charges What is your library charging for overdues these days? Is it different for adults and children? Does it vary by format? Is there a maximum, and if so, what is it? Does that vary by format and age of patron? Please respond to the list. One of our newer librarians would like to know. Thanks. Laurie Laurie Mahaffey, Deputy Director Central Texas Library System, Inc. 1005 West 41st Street Austin, Texas 78756 www.ctls.net [EMAIL PROTECTED] 512-583-0704 x18 800-252-4431 x18
