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Quick! Worst total library fine amount ever?


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You are so organized!

 

It's an act! Really! The guy at my bank at the grocery store says the same thing, and truly, it's an act. I'm very scatterbrained. I routinely lose my sunglasses, keys, and everything. I can't remember anything short-term unless I write it down.

 

Google calendar lets me fake being organized. :)

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Does your library not have a per item overdue limit? All of the libraries in our metropolitan area cap it at $1.00 per book, as long as you return it. They'll bill you after a month late, but as long as you bring the book back (even years late), the late fine maxes at $1.00 per item. I can't imagine a library being able to justify late fines that end up being more than the item costs.

 

I wish our libraries did this! We get beat up so badly with fines, I stopped using the local library for years. When the kids were all little and we would end up with two sick for a week, then cruddy weather for a few days, etc., the fines were just ridiculous. And many, many of our books are so old they are filthy and falling apart, so when my son lost a children's book from 1961 and they wanted $38 to replace it, I was done.

 

 

Growing up our library was a welcoming place, encouraging our love of reading. I miss that.

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You all have made me feel much better!! I am notorious for late fines, and my highest has been about $78 with all cards combined.

 

I always tell myself that we check out thousands of books a year, and if I pay $300 or so a year, it is still one heck of a bargain.

 

Cindy

Who tends to justify my failings ;)

 

That's what I say too. I actually laugh about it with the librarians. Between the 5 cards we can have a combined total of about 200 items out at a time so oncluding videos, kids books, magazines, cookbooks, and other books around 3400 a year. The thought of paying for those as purchases reminds me why my total of $300-350 in late fees a year is still a huge bargain. The librarians like it because that is $300 towards new materials lol

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Our library does have a $5 cap on checking things out, as long as your current fine is less than $5 you can check stuff out. However, that only helps if you accrue the fines slowly. There is no overdue charge cap at our library. Our fines are similar to what someone else posted $1 per day on DVDs & Cds and $.25 - $.50 a day per book. If you forget one movie & keep it an extra week, you've got a $6 fine on your card.

 

We go to the library weekly. We hardly ever have overdue books, now. I get emails 3 days before they are due, but barely glance at those. On library day each week, I go onto the library website & check each of our accounts. I have the kids help me get all the stuff that has to go back that day together. They make one pile of what they want me to try to renew (they recently put new restrictions on renewals), one pile of what needs to go back that they don't need renewed, and one pile of what isn't due, but they are done with & will be returning. We only return the books in the library, at the counter. It got to the point that whenever we returned in one of the book drops, at least one book would get lost for a day or two before being checked in & we would get the fine for it. We also only use one branch of the library, because the one closest to us regularly lost things we returned.

 

Our library does have a good sized collection & we've saved thousands by borrowing instead of buying every book each of us reads for fun or uses for school. Though, I do wish we could afford to buy all the books, as it would save some hassle.

 

This thread has made me feel much better about the fines we have dealt with, though. So, thank you for that. :001_smile:

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$12.10 apparently :glare:

 

$2.10 for the fees that accrued before I realized I had a lost book. $10 to replace the book, because I have NO idea where the book could be. My mom (a former children's librarian, no less!) lost a book I had out. I'm counting it as super cheap because it gives me LIFETIME teasing rights about a librarian losing a book LOL

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I always tell myself that we check out thousands of books a year, and if I pay $300 or so a year, it is still one heck of a bargain.

 

That's what I say too. I actually laugh about it with the librarians. Between the 5 cards we can have a combined total of about 200 items out at a time so oncluding videos, kids books, magazines, cookbooks, and other books around 3400 a year. The thought of paying for those as purchases reminds me why my total of $300-350 in late fees a year is still a huge bargain. The librarians like it because that is $300 towards new materials lol

 

:iagree:We can have out 50 items at a time on each of our two cards, and we are consistently at our limit. We probably check out.... 30-40 new things a week. That's nearly 2000 books, (not counting the books I get from my school library).

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And now you will all hate me when I say my library does not have fines for overdue books.

 

What's the incentive for people to bring them back? It would annoy me more to want to check something out and have some inconsiderate person keep it checked out indefinitely.

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And now you will all hate me when I say my library does not have fines for overdue books.

 

Mine neither for juvenile materials. Which is why I will only check out juvenile materials.

 

Sometimes I am frustrated with aspects of my city's library system. However, overall, they have an excellent collection and they have excellent outreach. They want people to USE the library, especially children. That's why they have the policies they have. I appreciate this mission they provide us. It often seems like the library systems in some cities are not meant to be used because the policies make the library a scary place, the sort of place Leslie Knope has to campaign to have shut down.

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Wow, I'm amazed! I waste an embarrassing amount of money each week on coffee, take out and other junk.... but not late fees.

 

I think my one late fee was $1.27.

 

(It really helps that the library sends email reminders a few days before due and then gives a 1 week grace period.)

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Have you ever thought about getting a yearly subscription to libraryelf.com? It is $12/year and you can set up email reminders as often as you need. I am able to review my email every day with - what's coming due, what's on hold, what's overdue.

 

Libraryelf.com has saved my hide on library fines!

 

Our library does this for me. They send me an email when requested items are in (.50 fine if not picked up by certain date) and an email several days before items are due. I love it. Right now I owe .75 on three books that were one day late and I've paid as much as $20 for a book my dd lost but we later found in the trunk of her brother's car.:001_huh:

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Wow, I'm amazed! I waste an embarrassing amount of money each week on coffee, take out and other junk.... but not late fees.

 

I think my one late fee was $1.27.

 

(It really helps that the library sends email reminders a few days before due and then gives a 1 week grace period.)

 

A grace period! How lovely. I remember my library growing up did that.

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;) Well over $50.

 

But I consider it a donation so they can buy more books. If you give cash, or write Library on the check, it goes to the library. If you simply write it out to "Town of...", who knows where it goes.

 

They are so great about ordering books I've requested that I cannot complain. I have saved zillions. I love our lieberry (sic) system.

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LunaLee says:

Also, something our library system did was to put a cap on the total fines. Now, if your fines reach $5 you can't check out new books, order books via inter library loan, or renew books.

This is our library, too.

 

A few years ago, our library changed to one card/family. I think our fine limit is $10, but I've had it over $20 before.

 

We have no limits on the number of books to check out. (Movies have a limit of 10). A part of this may be that our library is too small. It should be double the size it is for the number of patrons it serves. This information came from an outside evaluation. Our library must literally throw out one item for every new item they purchase because they don't have the physical space. :D:D I consider it community service to "store" 90+ items at my house each week. :D:D The bond passed, and they will begin remodeling/ expansion next year.

 

Will your library let you do community service to pay off some of your fine? You could shelve books, dust shelves, or do whatever else they need at $5/hour. Our library allows this on a limited level. I know of more than one parent who sends their child/teen in to work when the kid has been irresponsible/lost a book. (They have special jobs for kids to work off their fines).

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If it wasn't for our library my house would like an episode of hoarders :) We use the library in the next town over because that is where we orginally lived when we moved back to MI. The librarian is great, as soon as I walk in the door she is getting our ILL books off the shelf. We have had a couple of problems with the scanner not taking the books of our accounts and charging a fee but if we find the book on the shelf she takes all the fines off for that book.

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This is our library, too.

 

A few years ago, our library changed to one card/family. I think our fine limit is $10, but I've had it over $20 before.

 

We have no limits on the number of books to check out. (Movies have a limit of 10). A part of this may be that our library is too small. It should be double the size it is for the number of patrons it serves. This information came from an outside evaluation. Our library must literally throw out one item for every new item they purchase because they don't have the physical space. :D:D I consider it community service to "store" 90+ items at my house each week. :D:D The bond passed, and they will begin remodeling/ expansion next year.

 

Will your library let you do community service to pay off some of your fine? You could shelve books, dust shelves, or do whatever else they need at $5/hour. Our library allows this on a limited level. I know of more than one parent who sends their child/teen in to work when the kid has been irresponsible/lost a book. (They have special jobs for kids to work off their fines).

 

Way to go with your activism! We have a 50 book limit per card. I'll look into community service.

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If it wasn't for our library my house would like an episode of hoarders :) We use the library in the next town over because that is where we orginally lived when we moved back to MI. The librarian is great, as soon as I walk in the door she is getting our ILL books off the shelf. We have had a couple of problems with the scanner not taking the books of our accounts and charging a fee but if we find the book on the shelf she takes all the fines off for that book.

 

My library corner of the house kind of does look like hoarders. Maybe that's my problem!:lol: Actually, I do have several dedicated baskets for library books, but we've been overflowing them lately. I need to revamp my system or just go to the library more frequently and check out fewer books each time. Sometimes they have to sit there a while before they get read, though.

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What's the incentive for people to bring them back? It would annoy me more to want to check something out and have some inconsiderate person keep it checked out indefinitely.

 

At our library, you can't check out more books unless you bring the overdue ones back. And like I said, if someone else requests a book you haven't turned in, they will send a postcard asking you to return it. We don't keep books "indefinitely" (though I'm sure there are some that do). If they are overdue, it's only by a day or two. We live in a rural area and don't always get to town by the due date.

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If I every owed more than $100 at one time, I'd quit using the library. You can buy a lot of books on Amazon for hundreds of dollars.

 

 

I feel like a total oddball because I've almost quit over having to pay amounts of like .. $6 and $8 dollars. I can get more educational videos on Netflix for that amount each month and I get books used on Amazon starting at $4. I haven't been back for ages after feeling burned over my last (apparently extremely lame) fine.

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$1,000,000.

 

Yeah, I said that with a straight face. Seriously.

 

 

 

It went like this:

 

"Let's see if you have any fines today because we're wiping out fines for $20 or less this month."

"Cool"

"Oh, I'm afraid you do have a fine.."

"How bad is it?"

"Let me just check. Oh. Oh my, it says $1,000,000."

"Wow."

 

Then she laughed & realized she'd hit the wrong button. In the mean time my husband had sat down with a pretty loud thump.

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$30 to replace a missing book...

 

Every day of the week I am requesting something on one of our four cards so we keep everything under control on Wednesdays (I renew books online; DH returns books and picks up our weekly stack of books from the interlibrary loan shelf). We keep all library books on a special bookshelf.

Edited by LivingHope
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:iagree:

 

I'm pretty sure the new wing in the library will be named after my family. :lol:

 

:lol:

 

Are we talking biggest fine actually PAID or biggest fine I've talked my way out of? ;) The biggest I have ever had, but talked my way out of because I have some awesome library ladies and clearly God was on my side that day, was $15. :tongue_smilie:

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If I every owed more than $100 at one time, I'd quit using the library. You can buy a lot of books on Amazon for hundreds of dollars.

 

My highest fine was about $125. My son had insisted on checking out several DVDs and audiobooks. The DVDs are checked out for only a week at a time (versus three weeks for books) and rack up overdue fines of $1 per day. They were already a week overdue before we went on vacation and left them home.

 

And we lost one of the audiobooks.

 

There was more, but those were the seeds of that fine.

 

We did quit using the library for a couple of years at that point. And I bought into your theory about just buying books inexpensively. It worked for a while.

 

But we're really, really big readers, especially my son and me. Even $100 worth of books doesn't keep us going for very long. Since many books are creeping into the $10 (or more) range, and each of us reads four or five books per month, $100 wouldn't cover us for more than a few weeks, even buying used.

 

My daugher the actor also relies on the library for research materials. At the moment, she's rehearsing a play that deals with child neglect and abuse. We went to the library and checked out several books for her to read. These aren't things we need (or want) to own.

 

I've done the math. Even if we end up with a fine of $100 every couple of years, we're financially ahead of the game using the library. And, honestly, we don't pay much in fines anymore. We've developed better habits about returning on time. And, as my kids get older, they check out fewer, longer books and are better about taking care of them.

Edited by Jenny in Florida
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Does your library not have a per item overdue limit? All of the libraries in our metropolitan area cap it at $1.00 per book, as long as you return it. They'll bill you after a month late, but as long as you bring the book back (even years late), the late fine maxes at $1.00 per item. I can't imagine a library being able to justify late fines that end up being more than the item costs.

 

Our fines accumulate until they meet or exceed the cost of the item.

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Years ago we borrowed a few vhs tapes and a bunch of books. They were in the back of my van when it broke down. I completely forgot about the library stuff while it was being fixed. The vhs tapes had 1.00/day fines for each :(.

 

We rarely use the library now, and no videos, ever.

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I think the largest fine was about 47 dollars on my son's card when he was suffering from major depression and not taking care of anything. I paid it off and returned the books.

 

Any fines I have, which amount to much less than 100 a year, are still a lot less than it would cost me to buy the same materials. Also, we don't need more books in my house, we need less.

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This is why I bought used books instead of using the library frequently. Overall, it was a better use of money. The books were not expensive (50 cents at thrift shop) and we got to keep them to re-read. I used the library more for particular books we needed for study, and didn't check out many at a time.

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I try to buy our fun read-aloud books used because I don't like to have library dates hanging over my head when we are enjoying a read aloud. Sometimes we get through them very quickly but sometimes something comes up and we are slower with finishing. I also try to buy any school books we will need for multiple weeks.

 

I got tired of the library fines and started using library elf. I don't think I have had any issues since then. I have it set up to continue to email me and text my phone each day, as long as a book/DVD needs to be returned. It also keeps texting/emailing me when I have books waiting to be picked up. I love library elf.

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Well, this thread is making me very thankful for my local library system. Homeschoolers qualify for a special educator's library account. Educator's accounts automatically renew materials up to five times (fifteen weeks total) and even when materials are returned after the due dates, there are no late fees! The only downside to the educator's card is that it cannot be used for DVDs. So we just check those out using our regular library cards. We've racked up some late charges on DVDs, but nothing too outrageous.

 

The most I've ever paid in fees to a library was around $40, iirc. I returned a book in fine condition, but somehow the book was water-damaged somewhere between my car and the book return. They library called me and told me I'd ruined the book so I had to replace it. I still haven't quite figured out how that happened. I had the book wrapped in a plastic bag in my trunk and took it directly to the book return. My best guess is that water dripped from the top of my trunk as it was opened to retrieve the book and somehow made it's way into the plastic bag, soaking it without my noticing. I guess I should be grateful, considering the crazy charges some of you have had to pay.

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Have you ever thought about getting a yearly subscription to libraryelf.com? It is $12/year and you can set up email reminders as often as you need. I am able to review my email every day with - what's coming due, what's on hold, what's overdue.

 

Libraryelf.com has saved my hide on library fines!

 

Just wanted to repeat this, because it's so, so worth it.

As an added reminder, I set Library Elf as one of the tabs when I open my internet browser, which triggers me to run a status check. It gives you a great little calendar with your due dates circled so you have a quick little daily check as to when you need to go back to the library. It's also a reminder that you can renew your books online, and the links are built in so it's easy to take a second to do. I cannot speak highly enough about this service and how much it can help to minimize fines.

 

There is a free trial, and after that their highest level of service is only $20 per year, which covers multiple cards at multiple libraries. (There's a $12/year option for a single card.) If you run fines of more than $20 in a typical year, it's well worth the investment.

 

Here's the link:

http://www.libraryelf.com

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What's the incentive for people to bring them back? It would annoy me more to want to check something out and have some inconsiderate person keep it checked out indefinitely.

 

I think some libraries have found that the fines don't actually encourage people to return books more promptly, and they can prevent people from continuing to use the library after they've racked up a big bill. (Like the people on this thread!)

 

Our two biggest possible bills were nothing compared to some of the ones here. My husband brought two books to the wrong library system once, and we had to wait a couple months for them to be sent to the correct county. That went from about $50 to $0 because the slip with the books included the date they were turned in. It was before they were due at the other branch, so they erased the whole thing. After that I only gave my husband a library bag for one system at a time.

 

Our other bill was for a picture book that we accidentally packed and moved with us. My husband returned it when he was back in town and paid a fine equal to the cost of the book. It was the same amount we would have owed if we had kept the book, which seemed odd. :confused:

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At the library right now. Holy Hannah! The per book maximum fine is $15!!!!

 

This is simply unconscionable and I'd be sorely tempted to go to a library board meeting and ask what the justification could possibly be for having a fine maximum higher than the value of many books. Do they WANT to have people stop using the library?

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$95 for three cards. After that, I cut up two of the cards and now we only use one for the whole family. That one card also has a limit of 30 books, which at first irritated me, but then I decided that I don't really need more than 30 books out at one time. Also, something our library system did was to put a cap on the total fines. Now, if your fines reach $5 you can't check out new books, order books via inter library loan, or renew books. I thought this was brilliant actually, and this has saved me so much money over the last couple of years.

I love this. Our library system works the same way. And we can return books to ANY library branch which helps a lot too....people shouldn't be penalized for returning them to the wrong library if there are multiple branches in the town.

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I hate the misplaced items thing. I worked in public libraries for 10 years before I had my daughter. Some mistakes are inevitable and missed items happen, but some clerks just aren't as careful as they should be at making sure everything is checked in. I would spend tons of time looking for items people said they checked in, and most often they were correct and the item was in the building.

 

If you check out a lot of stuff, or have a problem library, stand at the counter while a clerk checks them all in, then have them print you a new list when they're done so you can make sure nothing was missed. It might be a few minutes of annoyance, but in the end it's worth the money and the value of using the library. At least, it is for me.

 

Our new library has a self-check in. When you're done scanning everything back into the system it prints you out a receipt so that you know that you checked it back in for sure.

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I paid $44.50 this very morning for two lost books. And had a search put out on a third. In all my years of library-using I have never before lost a book, and now three have gone missing in a month. I am quite certain that we returned at least two of the three books (the third I am not so confident about). We will NOT be using the book drop any more, that's for sure. I am now returning books at the desk and asking for a receipt.

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Wow, I feel spoiled. Our library system only charges replacement cost for lost books--no fines. If you have anything which has been overdue for a certain length of time it is in the lost category and your card is blocked until you return it or pay. You can also return books to any branch.

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