Access Services Interest Group

I am proposing to the dean of the library that the library eliminates overdue fines on general collection item (books, dvds).  The money that the library collects goes into a general fund.   Access Services is responsible for contacting graduating students and collecting money at the end of each semester.  Staff also collects money at the Information Desk through cash and a card reader for student id cards.   The card reader can be unreliable and the task of collecting and tracking cash involves time and people power.  Currently there is a staff shortage in the library.

Does anyone work at a library that has eliminated overdue fines?   If so, what policy has the library put in place for overdue materials?  How effective has the policy been?

Thank you.

Ariana Curiel

 

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Ariana Curiel
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Hello Ariana,

Here at Iowa State, we stopped charging daily overdue fines in March 2020 and never re-started. We charge daily recall fines, and bill people for replacement cost and processing at around 3-4 months overdue.  The number of average days an item is returned overdue has risen from an average of 23 days overdue from Jan - Jun in 2022 to 43 days overdue during the same time period in 2023. Given how our general circulation numbers have fallen even prior to Covid, this hasn't been a big deal. It's also a psychological boost for our staff, as we spend less time arguing over a $10 fine.  We do collect funds differently from your library. Any charges are billed to the person's university bill, so we don't have to worry about collecting payment. Billing is a manual process, so that was another good reason for us to move away from daily overdue fines - it wasn't worth the trouble for the amount of work involved.  I'm happy to answer any questions or tell you more about our procedures!

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Cordially,
Dawn Mick
Access Services Department Head
Iowa State University
She/Her/Hers
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Hello Ariana, 

My library stopped collecting fines back in March of 2020. We had been thinking of doing it for some time and the start of the pandemic was the catalyst. We charge fines for lost items only and they can pay online for those, so there is no currency being exchanged in the library.  Instead of charging late fines, we place holds on students accounts so they are unable to register or receive their diploma. We have a 14 week term and we start placing holds a couple of days before the 12th week starts when they are beginning to register for classes. The last Saturday of each term is graduation. We check in all materials that were delivered during the weekend on Monday and anyone with outstanding materials have holds placed on their accounts. 

Placing holds on their accounts has been a good incentive for them to return their items. I am happy to answer any other questions you might have. 

Alfonso Huerta (he/him/his)

Director, Access & Outreach

ArtCenter College of Design Library

626-396-2230

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Alfonso Huerta
Director, Access and Outreach
ArtCenter College of Design
He/Him/His
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I work in Circulation at a large academic university. We got rid of most general late fines before I started here and then got rid of fines for recalls/reserves/DVDs during the pandemic. We just stop you from checking out more items if something is overdue and charge if something is lost. We also stopped putting holds on students accounts for long overdue items during the pandemic and never started back up because of low staffing and no one volunteered. And like honestly as the person who used to send final emails before putting holds on student accounts I got trauma dumped on multiple times and it was kind of stressful. I also always thought it was a little unfair students got punished and faculty/staff did not.

I don't have access to run statistics, but I haven't noticed a huge change in patron behavior, possibly because we didn't advertise any of this and just tell people one at a time as it comes up. It's nice to see the relief on people's faces when they try to pay a fine and there isn't one. It's also lowered staff labor having to figure out whether to waive a fine or run the credit transaction.  The only problem I've seen is someone taking out a Reserve item for the whole semester and keeping it from other students that needed it. We could charge the cost of the book at that point or put a hold on the student account, but I don't think we did in that case. And like one person taking advantage of a system isn't a reason to stop helping other people.  So maybe play up the making the library more accessible for low income students and improving staff morale bits. Good luck!

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Lauren Day
Access and User Services Assistant
University of Michigan
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