Borrowers will be assessed the replacement cost of any library materials checked out to them if those materials are intended for in-library use only and are not returned by the end of the designated loan period.If patrons pay the replacement fee but later find and return the item within 90 days past its due date, they may receive a refund for the replacement fee from the Library.If patrons return the item, even after it has been declared lost, the Library will remove the replacement fee from their account.
Replacement fees will vary depending on the type of item that is lost.A replacement fee is determined by the official vendor’s pricing of the lost item.Items are declared lost after they have been overdue for 30 days and a replacement fee will be charged to the patron account. If they do not, the item will be labeled as overdue and the patron will be notified. Replacement Feesīorrowers are responsible for returning or renewing the items they check out before the due date. Please review our updated fees information below for details. The Library does assess some fees for lost materials, damaged materials and other instances. The New York Public Library does not charge late fines for any overdue circulating materials. Masterton District Council has also stopped issuing overdue fines since the Covid-19 lockdown, and a spokesperson said this would continue for this financial year, and be reassessed mid-2021.Español (Spanish) | 中文网页 (Chinese) | Русский (Russian) | বাংলা (Bengali) | Français (French) Robertson said moving away from fines was a growing trend overseas, and she would watch with interest how things go in Selwyn. "Our fines comprise of just over 20 percent of our current revenue and that's a considerable amount of funding." "To have something to offset the revenue that we actually bring in from library fines from another area of revenue, for example, I really don't have anything that could substitute for that," Robertson said.
The head of libraries and information, Carolyn Robertson, agreed dropping fines could be beneficial, but said in the current financial climate she could not see how the library could make up the shortfall. "It's actually the fear of fines that stops them coming, and we don't want that."Īt the moment Wellington City libraries is owed $504,402 in overdue fines, and one single customer, with the highest in overdue fees, owes $1193.59 in fines.Īt the beginning of August, Christchurch City Council libraries were owed $69,163 in overdue fines and in the last year the council collected $315,916 in fines. She said libraries were supposed to create a level playing field, but fees prevented people from accessing the resources. And it's the others, where it's everything, that's where our concern is." "For some people $2 to $5 is nothing, for a fine or a hold," Beaton said, "but to others it's everything.
She said it was the people who needed the service the most who were put off by fines. On one side you have libraries saying we are the champion of democracy and we're glad to help, and on the other side you have these punitive fines that actually prevent people returning to the library." And I think if libraries are truly for everyone, they need to get rid of fines. "There is no evidence that fines actually make people bring books back on time. She said fines did not ensure people return books on time anyway. Moen said if they got more readers, and attracted people who had been put off going to the library due to old fines, it would be worth it.Īssociation of Public Libraries executive director Hilary Beaton is welcoming the move, and said funding from fines was always uncertain anyway, because if everyone returned their books on time the library would get nothing. She said the move would cost the library some income, with the usual expectation of the library collecting $50,000 a year in fees and fines, dropping to $10,000. We're not going to let those lost books stay lost." So there will be some revenue generation from that. So part of my proposal to council was to be very active in trying to get those books back, and if they've been lost to get them paid for. "Colleagues, when they are not serving, will start phoning people with outstanding books. She said she hoped it would encourage more people to make use of the library, and she was not worried that books would never be returned. The head of Selwyn District Council's libraries, Nicki Moen, said during the lockdown their library was one of many which dropped overdue fines, and the council had now been given the backing to continue that for a two-year trial.
#Bring them back overdue library books trial#
Libraries within Canterbury's Selwyn District are undertaking a two year trial to drop fines for overdue books (file picture).
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