Bob Cox writes “Northern Star Online The NIU library anticipates collecting $37,552 in late fees for this fiscal year and collected $7,880 in fees this summer.
Library books are lent out for four weeks to undergraduates and 16 weeks to graduate students and faculty, said Stephen Wright, associate dean for Public Services.
After the first day a book is late, a late notice is sent out and another notice is sent after the 14th day. After 35 days, the student gets a bill for $10. If the book is not returned after three months, they get charged $40 or the cost of the book, whichever is higher.
The money collected from late fees goes into the lost book fund to buy replacement books.
“A lot of state universities have the money go into the state’s general revenue fund. The library may or may not see it again. We’re pretty fortunate that we get to use the money to buy new books,â€? Wright said.”
too much
$40 or the cost of the book, whichever is higher…
That’s ridiculous. No one should ever have to pay $40 in fines on a $15 book.
But then, I work at an exceptionally lenient library. We never, ever charge more than $2 late fees per book or $10 per library card, even if someone brings back 20 books 8 months late (I had that exact situation happen last week…) and our book replacement costs are pretty low. We also are very lenient about waiving fines if a patron claims they returned the book on time, they already paid that, they had a sick mother/child/pet canary. Whatever they say. Personally, while it can be frustrating at times and certainly a few people abuse the friendly system, for the most part I love it. We never have to be mean to someone because of rules, and I think it’s well worth losing some money to have a friendly atmosphere instead of one where librarians shake their heads dispprovingly at tardy patrons.