maize Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 Our local library is doing away with late fees!!! 27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junie Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 :party: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 That's awesome. What is the incentive to get materials back on time? I'm motivated by the shame of having to pay a late fee. Our librarians whisper everything except 'you have a $.25 fine'. Which they say in a very loud,disapproving tone. Or maybe my Catholic guilt is rearing its ugly head. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 Our library did the same a few years back but if you are 3 or 4 wks late they automatically charge for the book plus a service fee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabeth86 Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 That is awesome! Our library doesn't do late fees fir kid cards, but if you reserve a book from one of the other libraries in the system (which I often do) you can't put it on the kids card or have an online account that shows you what you have out or when it's due, so not overly helpful to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted January 20, 2018 Author Share Posted January 20, 2018 That's awesome. What is the incentive to get materials back on time? I'm motivated by the shame of having to pay a late fee. Our librarians whisper everything except 'you have a $.25 fine'. Which they say in a very loud,disapproving tone. Or maybe my Catholic guilt is rearing its ugly head. When another library system in our state did this last year the explanation was that studies have shown that fines do not actually incentivize more timely returns--in fact in some cases at least the opposite seems to happen; maybe folks feel a lack of guilt over holding onto the book because the fine makes up for it. Fines do discourage low income folks from using the library and they want to encourage library use. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted January 20, 2018 Author Share Posted January 20, 2018 Relevant article: http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2017/02/librarians_are_realizing_that_overdue_fines_undercut_libraries_missions.html 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umsami Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 (edited) Ours will let kids read down fines. My problem is not late fines (as usually I can renew online), but kids who lose books up until the point where I finally decide to repurchase the book for the library. Then, miraculously, the book is found. :) Oh...and the latest problem is a puppy who loves the taste of library bound books. Edited January 21, 2018 by umsami 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ann.without.an.e Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 I might need to know where you live because it might be financially beneficial to just move :lol: 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 Woot!! Our library has never had fines, and honestly, I'm not sure if I'd have been able to homeschool if I hadn't had that perk! Our librarians are soooo nice! Once I found a book I'd lost years later, and finally paid for ('cause late is one thing, but lost is another... although they let me have it lost for a ridiculous amount of time, and even then didn't insist I pay in case it turned up) - and then when it did, they refunded what I'd paid for it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 :hurray: :hurray: :hurray: :hurray: :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 I might need to know where you live because it might be financially beneficial to just move :lol: SaveSaveSame. Not proud to say that multiple times I've gotten into the triple digits.....and at that point I just avoid the library for a year while I pay it down. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2scouts Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 I try to tell myself that my fines are a donation to the library. Once my dd11 had a huge pile of books and we didn't get back to the library for several days after they were due. She had a very large fine and I had just enough in my wallet to pay it. Another patron started scolding my dd and telling her she really needed to thank me for paying her fine and do something nice for me. I was just looking at her like she was crazy because I was wondering how an 11 year old was supposed to return her own library books unless someone (like the parent who was paying her fines) took her to the library. I really wish my library would get rid of fines or at least extend the no fines perk to homeschoolers instead of just professional teachers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalsummer Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 When we lived in Christchurch, in NZ, they had a drop box for library books at the bus station. I thought that was genius. We didn't get around much, but I wonder if they had them in other parts of town. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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