funschooler5 Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 ...Because I think I have you beat. $100! We had about 50 books out, on various cards, from various trips to different libraries in the same library system. The books just accumulated when I wasn't paying attention. Then all three kids got sick, the next week our power was out for five days, and so I didn't leave the house for about three weeks. (Yeah, I know...excuses, excuses.) I haven't paid it yet, but I have all the books back in at least. I feel like a moron. It's not like I don't have fines EVERY time I go in (a couple bucks here and there, maybe a $10 fine a couple of times a year). But....ouch. this is the worst time of year for us, too money-wise, so I'm going to have to pay off one library card at a time (though my 11-yr-old is paying for her card, $11). Oh well, until it's paid off maybe we will get around to reading some of the hundreds of books we have at home. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 1.75 and it made me mad. I renewed the books online and somehow this ONE book didn't get renewed. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Our library has a cap at $10. THANKFULLY!:tongue_smilie: You can also trade in can goods for a CHristmas food drive at the end of the year to have your fines forgiven. CHeck into your library policies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracey in TX Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Here is goes... $200 AND $250 in one month. UGH. Hopefully confessions is good for the soul...LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 $40 - because we have 4 cards and the library won't let you check out any more books once your fines reach $10 on a card. Don't I remember SWB mentioning a fine of $450 a few months ago? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessedfamily Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Wow! Twice a year around here you can drop off canned goods for the food bank at the library, and they'll take a dollar off your fine for each item. You could feed the Waltons, the Ingalls, and the family from Good TImes on what you owe! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clane Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 I currently owe $75 on one card and $40 on the other. I used DS's card b/c of the $40 fine on mine, and ended up incurring $75 on his. Our library is offering half off on fines the last week of the month, so we will pay them then and behave afterwards (famous last words!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 I thought I was bad at $25. I have been really trying to stay on top of returning on time or at least renewing online before the due date. Some months I am more successful than others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest janainaz Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Just last week I paid $28.00. It's pathetic and without excuse. I live across the street from the library. BUT....it is a new one and they don't have fully stocked shelves yet. So, you have to request your books online and as they come in you are notified via email. They hold them with your name for seven days and if you don't pick them up in that time period, it's a $2.00 reshelving fee. I was out of town for the holidays and came back to mega-fines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 $25 they would not take into account that they were closed during the holidays and the branch I returned the items to is closed on Sunday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PiCO Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Is everyone talking about late fees or lost book charges? It would take a long time to get to $200 (or even $40) in late fees. I've had to pay a couple lost book charges before. One book I left in a hotel room a 2-hr drive away. I called and they didn't have it. About a month later, I got my money back because the book was returned to the library! Someone had returned to their local library, and it found its way back home. I think the max late fee at my library is the replacement value of the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jami Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Is everyone talking about late fees or lost book charges? It would take a long time to get to $200 (or even $40) in late fees. I've had to pay a couple lost book charges before. One book I left in a hotel room a 2-hr drive away. I called and they didn't have it. About a month later, I got my money back because the book was returned to the library! Someone had returned to their local library, and it found its way back home. I think the max late fee at my library is the replacement value of the book. It doesn't take that long if your library charges $.30 a day per lost book and you have 20+ out late for more than a few days. It only takes a week to break $40. Ask me how I know. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nova mama Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Our library doesn't charge any fees! You are even allowed to check out books if you have some overdue items, although after a certain your privileges are blocked. Isn't that lovely?? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessedfamily Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Our library doesn't charge any fees! You are even allowed to check out books if you have some overdue items, although after a certain your privileges are blocked. Isn't that lovely?? :) :001_tt2: Here I sit with a $5. fine as we speak. Actually, I thought that was a lot, but after reading this thread...........let me go pay these people their measley five dollars.:auto: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 I once had fines totalling over $100 on several cards. Then we started putting EVERYTHING on my card. We check them weekly online and we still occasionally have hefty enough fines that I can't check anything else out until they are paid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmy Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Our library won't let you check out books if you are above $5 in fines. Typically I hit that $5 mark about twice a year. Recently we had a book go overdue and I just completely forgot about it and it ran up to $8. That's the most I've ever had in fines! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKDmom Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Oh, that reminds me, I need to return some books tomorrow. :001_smile: When I was in college, our library had $1/day/book. I had a neighbor that was a day (one day!) late and owed $40. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritAnnia Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Same here, no fines at all for overdue books, though there are expensive fines for dvd's kept beyond the one week checkout. ($2 per day.) I don't bother getting dvd's from the library because everytime I've tried the disc has been so scratched it's unwatchable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 My current bill is over $300, With 5 library cards being used and charges of $1 per day for late movies, cd's and adult books and 0.50 per day for childrens books, and we take out the max on each card it adds up really fast. I forgot to return everything to the library over xmas and now everything is really late and the bill is mounting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3lilreds in NC Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Our library also has a cap at $10 - thank goodness. Otherwise it would be worse. I've had to pay the max lots of times. I also had to pay an $8 lost book fee, although I *really* think the book got turned back in - it's just not here, KWIM? But, it was only $8 for a library-bound hard cover picture book, so that was really a deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 About $36. Our library charges 20cents a day per book and $1 a day for videos and $2 a day for DVDs. We frequently have 30+ books out. I very rarely allow my kids to check out DVDs from the library any more. I can never remember to get them back in time (was 3 days now 1 week). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandamom Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 (edited) My highest was $145 as I had about 50 books, movies and audio recordings and all were a couple of days late. Just the other day I turned in about 30 books and ended up with a $30 fine. I really need to watch the number of books that I check out. But lately we're reading them all. I consider my fines a contribution to the library :) Edited January 8, 2009 by Mandamom clarification Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 I use the drop box a lot because it's only a little out of the way for me on my way home from ds's school. The most I've ever owed was $20, when I forgot to renew dvd's while we were on vacation. Usually I wait to accumulate about $20 over the 5 cards and pay them of at once so I pay every 3 or 4 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Same here - $1.20 right now, and it's NOT MINE. That would belong to the 4yo in the house that HID the book because she wanted to keep it. HMPH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRAAB Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 $35.00. After $10.00 you can no longer check out items on that card. That one hurt, plus it didn't help that dh found out. No excuse for me either; library is about a mile away and I can renew online. Janet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelanieMac Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Well, after the nice librarian cut my fine in half it was $135. My excuse is that I had all the books in the car to take back to the library after my OB appointment when I was put on immediate bed rest. I ended up in the hospital for three months with my car parked. When I got out, I took my books back with my sob story & they said I only had to pay half and they even took the hold off of my card so I could use it as I paid the fine over time. Usually my fine is about $5 every month. I consider it a membership fee. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 (edited) $5 in Oregon but that was after my 6 week allotted educator allowance, and I renewed it online after someone lifted their hold on it, to halt the fines. It would have been much, much higher otherwise because I had lost the cd and it finally showed up. We live on the border and can use both library systems so .... This is my only fine in the past 7 years but only because our library in Washington doesn't have fines :0) Otherwise I would be banned! Edited January 8, 2009 by Tap, tap, tap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Well, *technically*, *I* haven't paid much in fines. shhhhhh....I always send dh to return late books. :001_smile: There is a small town in NY that was able to build a new wing and name it "The ______ Family Late Fee Wing" Here, in our extra-small town, the librarian won't let us request books online. No, we must submit to her the title, author and ISBN and she will request it. "What would happen if *patrons* requested their own books?!" Her actual question to me! Why, the ensuing chaos would wreak havoc on the quietness of her domain. New this month, there is a delivery fee because we are in the sticks. So, it's easier, cheaper and quicker to buy the books on line or make a trip to Half-Price Books then sell them after we read them. And keep the good ones. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Man! I feel so lucky! Our library system has no late fees for children's materials. It's a good system though and sends me e-mail reminders 3 days before our stuff is due. I've only had to pay a dime this last year for one of my books that was a day late. Wow! Thanks for making me feel so fortunate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessedfamily Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 I guess library fines need to be figured into the curriculum budget for homeschoolers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsdrcook Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 $20, due to a lost DVD. I told my 5yo no more videos from the library until we find the Angelina Ballerina DVD. I'll probably have to change my mind if we don't find it in another month or so. How do people keep up with their library books when they have so many, and have little ones who carry things off? Of course I'm not much better with pregnancy brain. I'm lucky my head is still attached or I'd loose it too. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessedfamily Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 It seems like many fines are more than the item is worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhonda in TX Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 That took awhile to pay off. You can't check out books if it's over $20. Today I realized my fine was $28 and I had a lot of overdue books to turn in. I paid $12 on the fine (all the cash I had), checked out more books, then turned in the others. I'm back up to $28. I really think I need to just buy all my books. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 I am our little town's librarian. The highest "fine" I've ever tallied (was just over $800. That included a few overdues, but mostly lost charges on 3 different cards for one family. They are heavy users of the library. The reason for the fine was that about a week after checking out their usual laundry basket of books, their house was lost in a fire. Of course, I waived the fine. The library had to eat the loss of the books, but considering the circumstances... well... even the library board couldn't come up with a good argument against waiving the fines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 $10. I belong to three libraries and they all cut you off at that point. Of course, in our family four people each have cards at each library so it could potentially add up. My dh is the worst because he get media and then doesn't return it in one week when it is due. The fine for that it $1 per day. We can renew online though so that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funschooler5 Posted January 8, 2009 Author Share Posted January 8, 2009 Our library does cut you off if your fines are $5 or more, the problem was we had so many books out, we hit over that all at once. Plus, you can't renew the books once you owe that much money. I'm just glad I got them all back in. (I'm also glad to know we aren't the only homeschoolers out there that are racking up fines, :lol:) Normally, I do just think of it as a donation of sorts, but $100 is lot! (I forgot the kids did have a bunch of videos checked out, and I think those are more money.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momofkhm Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 But that's only if you pay it all at once. Now with the fines you are talking about, I don't know what they do about the cap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawn of ns Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 $80. Well, 50 of the was a fine and 30 was a lost book which I managed to find. I haven't gone back in years though because between the local thrift store, used book store and a local book sale that's held once a month and never charges more then a dollar for a book, I can buy lots of wonderful books and it's still cheaper then the fines. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacey in MA Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Our library caps fines at $10, which is definitely very cool! I had a $22 fine after the holiday (mostly videos I couldn't get back in time since we were out of town), and paid it off with the $10 cap amount. That was a relief! On the occassions that I DO have fines (I try very hard not to....) they are usually that amount, due to the videos being $1 a day if overdue. $100 - wow! What happened? I guess you just dig in and get it over with and no enter that territory of being late again? Did you tell you DH? hee hee! GL! - Stacey in MA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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