Your MORE Responsibilities

Happy New Year! Here's hoping 2012 is a year of happiness, prosperity and regular library usage for your family.

If you don't have a card or someone in your family doesn't have a card, be sure to get one this year. If you do decide to get one, you'll notice on the back of the card you'll fill out that the following points are covered under a heading that reads "By becoming a MORE library cardholder I accept the following responsibilities:"

• "Any library materials checked out on my card are my sole responsibility.


• "I will promptly return all borrowed items by the due date or pay overdue charges.


• "I will pay any replacement costs assessed for lost, unreturned or damaged materials."

In the last month or so, I have had to deal with several less-than-pleasant situations wherein I had to explain to people who had checked out items that were returned grievously damaged or after long periods of being overdue that they would be held responsible for the replacement costs or the sizable fines. With all the tact my mother taught me to use, I have had to point the above agreed-to responsibilities out to library users, reminding them of the contract they signed with us, before politely insisting that they recoup the library for damaged, destroyed or long-overdue items.

We live in an imperfect world, and it's impossible to always tell with mathematical certitude where, how or at whose hands damaged or destroyed library materials met their fate, and I am certain that some good people who frequent the library have been made to pay for damage not done by them or their children since I have been director. If this error occurs, the fault is completely mine. But one of my responsibilities as library director is to ensure the health of this library's collection (and to bear the disdain of those who pay under protest).

Let me say, however, that we of the library do not leap for joy when our books return to us with pages torn out or marker scribbles or coffee stains across half of the pages. We don't see damaged books as a chance to "get over" on the public or punish wrongdoers. It is often with heavy hearts that we tell esteemed patrons they'll have to pay for a book damaged while they had it checked out. And paying fines for books kept long past their due dates can be thought of as recouping us the cost of having to get the book from another library in the MORE system (a service which all users pay for).

I thought I'd take this first blog posting of 2012 as an opportunity to explain our thought processes and to ensure our users that, even if we get it wrong, our hearts are in the right place. We hope that's clear.

Food for Fines/Library Card Sign Up Month

All during the month of September, we'll waive the fines patrons owe the library provided they bring in food items for local food banks. In economically unsteady times like this, there is always a surprising number of people in any community who have a tough time making ends meet all the way around...including at the dinner table.

Here's how it works...patrons bringing in non-taxable food items will be credited at a rate of $1.00 per item up to a maximum of $5.00 worth of fines. Food items cannot used for partial payment of lost or damaged items or to pay fines owed to other MORE libraries. Patrons can also take care of card replacement fees this way. What better way to pay a debt?

Speaking of cards, September is Library Card Sign-Up Month. If you don't yet have one (or know someone who doesn't have one), now's the time to come and get one or talk someone else into it. To help convince you, maybe, here is a list of some of the 52 things you can do with a library card, courtesy of the American Library Association:

• Research new job opportunities


• Pick up voter registration information


• Pick up a DVD


• Prepare your resume


• Pick up tax forms


• Connect with other people in the community


• Find a quiet spot, curl up with a book and enjoy


• Read a newspaper from another country


• Download a book

So...what are you waiting for?

Tighter Ship A-Sailing

In about a month, there are going to be some changes coming to the Chippewa Falls Public Library's policies. Actually, the changes are already technically in place, but we wanted to make sure the public is well-informed before we begin to put them into practice. We'll start enforcing the following on May 17th, so spread the word! Feel free to copy and paste this blog entry into emails to your best library-using friends.

Checking Out & Using Computers

First, we're going to get a little tougher on people coming in and expecting to check out without having their library cards. Patrons are going to need to have their cards with them. It saves staff time and speeds things along at the desk. We WILL allow one check out without a library card every three months, but a note will be made in the patron record and the patron will have to have it the next time. In other words, don't go to the library without your library card!

Next, we're going to raise the cost of replacing a card to $5.00. A lot of people have gotten three or four cards in as many years, and think nothing of the data entry time, wasted paper for the MORE application, etc. So, keep your card in your wallet and keep track of it!

Also, patrons will need their library cards to log onto our public access Internet computers. If a patron has a card and simply forgets it they can log on, but this(like checking out without a card) will only be allowed once every three months. So, once again, don't leave home without your library card!

Fines

The maximum fine that will allow patrons to check out--AND USE THE INTERNET--at the Chippewa Falls Public Library will be lowered to $5.00. In my estimation as your director, this is still very--crazily--generous. In many library systems, a ten cent fine means no checking out, so five bucks is a great deal.

Also, anyone who has fines they can't handle can work them off at a rate "concomitant with current minimum wage." In other words, you give us 90 minutes and you work off about ten bucks. Just ask to speak with the library director and we'll set something up. This does not apply to replacements or fines owed to other MORE libraries.

If you have fines on materials lost in a theft or fire, just bring us a police/fire department/insurance company report, and we'll let it go. We WILL call and confirm.

And, you know, we're not doing this because we have so many people absuing their library privileges that we need to clamp down. That isn't the case at all. We're doing this because so many people here DON'T abuse their privileges that it makes those who do all the more apparent and troublesome.

And don't worry. We're going to pick one week a year as "Fine Free Week." I think we just might make it random to keep people guessing.

Thanks!