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Posted Anonymously
Fines and Fees
Sep 29 2010, 6:40 PM EDT | Post edited: Sep 29 2010, 6:40 PM EDT
Late fines for videos/DVDs should be lowered. A lot of families are getting hit too hard making the library less attractive. In these busy times just trying to find time to handle life's red tape priority items is hard enough. Children get excited about their card and then get ruined by the fines from just a couple of videos a day or two late.

I was thinking that maybe to offset the video we could do something like charge a dollar or two for extra Internet time. 1  out of 1 found this valuable. Do you?    
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civillibrarian
1. RE: Fines and Fees
Oct 4 2010, 4:20 PM EDT | Post edited: Oct 4 2010, 4:20 PM EDT
I agree with you. I'm sure the hefty $2 fine was implemented at a time (long past) when the value of A/V materials was much higher. Normally, it is the practice of local government departments to bring changes in their fine and fee schedule to Council for approval on an annual basis. For us, this would mean recommending this change in June when our budget is approved. I intend to do so.

Also, as has been the practice of most public libraries around the country, the existence of fines and fees at SSJCPL is not intended to generate revenue but to change behavior (I acknowledge that I've been watching the results of our new fine/fee policy closely but the ultimate goal is still to get items returned or to suspend privileges). With that in mind, I don't think I'd be in favor of charging for Internet usage. As it is, we don't have our public PCs booked for every hour that they're available; we'd only discourage use if we began allocating a cost for that service. Do you find this valuable?