Oly Reads discussion

I just need to say... is it sad that at the beginning of November I already owe above what I'm allowed to owe at the library? ;) It's only been, what? 5 weeks? Apparently I am a habitual offender... and need to put library late fines into my budget.

I just thought I'd share.

~The one who may singlehandedly save TRL. ;)

I've got fines too! I'm still under five bucks, though. I feel your pain. I hope you signed up for the pre-overdue notices via email? They have really been helping to keep me in line, and you can always try to renew at that point (two times, if nobody has the item requested).

I did... and I forgot. ;) LOL I get the emails and then think... OK, I should renew in 2-3 days. 5 or 6 days later... I owe $$. It says I'm at $5.60 right now, but i have to turn in a book tomorrow that's requested so it won't renew... which will add another 60 cents I think.

I've gotta change how I do the library! ;)

The library thanks you for your support, Emily. :)

I've already paid 75 cents in fines. I got a pre-overdue email, renewed but didn't get an email when it was due again. I was expecting to get the email so didn't pay attention to the time. I have complained to a certain guy about that. :>)

The emails have been helpful; I'm only at 45 cents right now, and I think that might be from a book I had out when the fines started! Alas, I've had to take back a few books unread...my eyes are bigger than my time budget.

LOL - Jackie, I do what I can.

Sad thing is... I forgot the one that had a request on it... so I paid another 15 cents for today. ;) It's in my purse, and fortunately I work minutes from the downtown branch... it's getting dropped off before 7 am tomorrow!!! EESH!

Glad to know I'm not alone, though... ;)

Thanks for being so willing to pay. You would not believe some people- it seems that the smaller the amount owed, the bigger the heaps of shit that are given to our circ staff.

Really? It's so dumb. Of course there are fines, folks, it's a library. We've gotten off SOOOO easy over the past umpteen years. People are LAME and you can tell them I told you. It's MY fault the books are late, therefore, it's MY responsibility to pay.

Doesn't get much clearer than that!

If only everybody had your attitude! You're the ideal library patron.

thank you, thank you very much! ;) If i ever hear people complain when I'm in the library, I'll take 'em out back for you. ;)

My family had NO idea fines were going to be enacted at the library. There was no e-mail, voice message or large sign signaling it. We routinely check out dozens of children’s books at a time, so our first late fee was over 75$. Surprise! Your holiday budget is destroyed! I prefer sarcasm to profanity.

Mr- that sucks that your fines were so profound. FYI, they really did what they could to get the word out- there were notices on the checkout slips for over three months, signs all over the library (which nobody ever reads), newspaper articles, stuff on the library's website, information on all telecirc emails (the emails you get when things are overdue and holds come in for you), and staff were talking about the fines to everyone they could for months. You must have slipped through the cracks somehow. Picture books are particularly challenging for fines because they are such a quick read, so people check a lot of them out at once. Make sure you sign up for the email notifications the next time you're at the library- they alert you three or four days before your book is due so that you can renew online or make sure to get the books back before the due date.

The fines were instituted after we checked them out, which seems practically illegal. I’m guilty of not reading all the photocopied signs strewn around the library advertising chess clubs, salsa classes, holiday closures and library fines. I think a lot of people are slipping through the cracks with self check-out. We simply can’t check out children’s books from the library anymore; the potential fines are a serious deterrent.

Wow - that's a hefty sum in fines. I know I, as a library patron, was bombarded with information about the fines coming... I got emails, talked to staff (even though I only do self checkout) saw a bajillion brightly colored signs all over the checkout and drop off counters, and saw things posted all over the website. I hope you're in the minority.

Fines are great for single people. The books I want are in faster rotation and forgetfulness will only cost me a nominal pittance. Busy families just get abused so badly they are better off not using the resources at all. I would prefer if the library fines were instituted to improve efficiently, but it is clearly stated that it is for funding. They are feeding off of the patrons most likely to have large late fees and the least resources to pay.

Mr, you're failing to take into account that the patron is ultimately responsible for returning items in a timely fashion. Return on time, no fees. It's a choice. I have lots of friends who are parents of young kids who get their stuff back or renewed in time no problem. It just needs to be made into a habit like anything else. I sympathize with what you're saying, but the library can't survive forever without incoming funds, and the levy didn't pass, so the money needs to come from somewhere. We were one of two remaining systems in Washington that didn't charge overdues. It was time. Feeding off of the patrons? That's kind of insulting, don't you think?

I was shocked when I moved to Olympia and found that the library didn't charge overdue fines. Everywhere I have ever lived has always charged overdue fines for materials. I remember when I was a child, spending my allowance paying my library fines so that I could check out more books, or convincing my mother to let me hang out longer at the library so I could read things until I had money to pay my fines.
Getting your books back on time is just good manners. It's a habit that can be hard to get into. Maybe you are used to only returning books before they go to collections. It's a mental shift to start sticking to due dates, but it's not the end of the world, and the library is such an incredible resource that it's worth it (and a lot more). I spend less on library fines than I would if I bought all the books, movies, and magazines I read at the library.

Jess- :)

Let me just add a little more to this thread...

1. The people in this discussion group have absolutely nothing, nada, zilch to do with the changes made by the library's administration in response to the rejection of the levy.
2. This is our place to come and relax- while there are several TRL employees in this group and we might bring up work occasionally because we're there all the time, we don't necessarily want to defend the decisions made by our upper management in our leisure time.
3. If you feel really strongly about this stuff, I would suggest that you come to a monthly board meeting and speak during the public comment period. That would have far more of an impact than complaining about fines on an online book message board.

I am not a trl employee but I do work in a library. And my education for my library degree included discussion on whether fines were worth it or not (the consensus was that they were negative, that they caused people to avoid the library, think of the library as a negative in a negative way and were more costly to administrate than what was actually collected).

I seem to remember that there was this huge cry that Timberland was NOT CHARGING FINES from (what I perceive to be) the anti-tax, pro pay-your-own crowd of probably not library users when the budget woes of the library were discussed a year or so ago (not here but I remember fines discussed on Olyblog and the daily 0). My guess is that they cost more to administer in terms of money collected but were felt to be necessary for political reasons.

Another thing though: does the library allow you to work off your fines? It might be a nice way to connect and contribute to the community.

I just edited this because I am embarrassed by my gosh-darn grammatical errors. Please forgive them.

Every other library in every other state I have lived in had late fees - I was absolutely floored that Oly didn't have late fees when I first arrived in Olympia 2 years ago. In a way I think late fees are important in that they encourage people not to hang on to books for weeks on end so that others may have a chance to read them as well. I mean a library is all about sharing these books. While I sympathize with the economics of the situation - this is a public resource - as such perennially underfunded and always dependent on the goodwill of its patrons. I for one am grateful libraries still exist- I think we all need to do our part to support our libraries in every way we can.

I wouldn’t care about paying fines I knew existed, but I’ve used a fineless Library Card for decades. I can sympathize with the budget crisis but fines might actually exacerbate the problem. If people simply follow the new rules there won’t be ANY relief, and passing future levies is going to be more difficult if constituents are burned and alternate funding exists (even if it’s inadequate).