Every library I frequent is fine free. I still like to return them by the due date because I consider it a courtesy. Just so everyone is aware, this only seems to be for books. Movies, video...
Every library I frequent is fine free. I still like to return them by the due date because I consider it a courtesy.
Just so everyone is aware, this only seems to be for books. Movies, video games, museum passes returned late may result in a fee
It's a cost/benefit thing. Most books can be replaced for less than 20 bucks. Interlibrary loans ease the burden of losing any given book for a few months/years. A video game could easily cost 60,...
It's a cost/benefit thing.
Most books can be replaced for less than 20 bucks. Interlibrary loans ease the burden of losing any given book for a few months/years. A video game could easily cost 60, and most of these don't hop between libraries, and tend to be in higher demand sooner than later.
My library loans out some high tech kids audiobook thing. They require a refundable deposit to borrow it because they can't afford to let it vanish.
My library still charges book fines. But they sometimes have fee-wipe holidays, won't limit you from checking out until you have $20 in fines. And if they recognise you and see you have less than a buck they'll wipe the slate anyway.
It's your birthday, someone gives you a calfskin wallet. Hope you can get through the captcha, just answer the next few questions while we determine your status...
It's your birthday, someone gives you a calfskin wallet.
Hope you can get through the captcha, just answer the next few questions while we determine your status...
It's your birthday, and someone gives you a calfskin wallet. As you open it, an eerie sensation washes over you, and a portal to a sinister dimension materializes. Otherworldly whispers beckon, luring you into a realm of incomprehensible horrors.
In this nightmarish place, grotesque, multi-limbed entities glide through a fractured sky, casting unsettling shadows. You wander through a city of alien geometry, its architecture defying reason. Strangers with eyes that gleam with madness regard you with malevolence.
The wallet compels you toward a blasphemous idol, oozing malefic energy. You touch it, and the world warps. You're no longer yourself, but an emissary of unspeakable forces.
In a twisted twist, the wallet reveals that it was the key to your ascension, not your doom. You wield powers beyond imagination, and as the eldritch beings bow before you, you realize that your birthday gift, a portal to the unknown, has transformed you into a cosmic entity. Butter, surprisingly, is the essence that binds your newfound dominion over the surreal realms, and as you return to your world, everything you touch turns to the creamy substance of ultimate power.
My local library ditched fines years ago. I was a little stunned when I read recently-ish that the Chicago Public Library stopped charging late fees. My podunk town, ahead of the of progressive curve.
My local library ditched fines years ago. I was a little stunned when I read recently-ish that the Chicago Public Library stopped charging late fees. My podunk town, ahead of the of progressive curve.
Libraries and librarians strive to be inclusive and egalitarian. They became convinced that fines disproportionately impact poor people and interfere with the mission and work of the library. But...
Libraries and librarians strive to be inclusive and egalitarian. They became convinced that fines disproportionately impact poor people and interfere with the mission and work of the library. But some library materials are quite expensive and can't be cheaply replaced so there are different rules for those.
Thankfully the really valuable materials tend not to be stored in lending libraries. Instead you can only view them in a library under supervision. I think there's something to be said for token...
Thankfully the really valuable materials tend not to be stored in lending libraries. Instead you can only view them in a library under supervision.
I think there's something to be said for token fines (e.g. 1 penny/cent per day) to encourage people to return things.
Library fines trade away everyone's access to books in exchange for some people's hypothetically faster/easier access to books: The fine that you want everyone to have to pay, so that you can...
Library fines trade away everyone's access to books in exchange for some people's hypothetically faster/easier access to books: The fine that you want everyone to have to pay, so that you can access materials more readily, will necessarily prohibit some other people from accessing materials altogether.
Any fine at all is effectively a scorched-earth punishment for being late to return a book....but only for the people who need the library system the most.
Much better to eliminate fines altogether & occasionally have someone less motivated to return a book on time.
If those fines keep people from coming back, why? Also how do people pay those pennies when the cost to process a card payment is much higher? As someone who, due to the ADHD tax, has funded a...
If those fines keep people from coming back, why? Also how do people pay those pennies when the cost to process a card payment is much higher?
As someone who, due to the ADHD tax, has funded a wing at my hometown library, I'm one of the targets of this. What motivates me to bring them back is lack of ability to check out new books and general shame. Hell, still get charged if I "lose" the book because I have it out too long.
Every library I frequent is fine free. I still like to return them by the due date because I consider it a courtesy.
Just so everyone is aware, this only seems to be for books. Movies, video games, museum passes returned late may result in a fee
It's a cost/benefit thing.
Most books can be replaced for less than 20 bucks. Interlibrary loans ease the burden of losing any given book for a few months/years. A video game could easily cost 60, and most of these don't hop between libraries, and tend to be in higher demand sooner than later.
My library loans out some high tech kids audiobook thing. They require a refundable deposit to borrow it because they can't afford to let it vanish.
My library still charges book fines. But they sometimes have fee-wipe holidays, won't limit you from checking out until you have $20 in fines. And if they recognise you and see you have less than a buck they'll wipe the slate anyway.
Mirror, for those hit by the paywall:
https://archive.ph/oxoVx
Oddly, I can't seem to get past the captcha on that link. I'm not a robot, I swear!
Or am I? Would I know?
Oh no.
It's your birthday, someone gives you a calfskin wallet.
Hope you can get through the captcha, just answer the next few questions while we determine your status...
That sounds like the start of an excellent short story… any chance you have a link?
It's from Bladerunner. It's one of the questions asked to people to see if they're actually a robot.
As noted it's from Bladerunner. Empathy towards animals is one of the major ways to tell replicants from humans.
My local library ditched fines years ago. I was a little stunned when I read recently-ish that the Chicago Public Library stopped charging late fees. My podunk town, ahead of the of progressive curve.
Libraries and librarians strive to be inclusive and egalitarian. They became convinced that fines disproportionately impact poor people and interfere with the mission and work of the library. But some library materials are quite expensive and can't be cheaply replaced so there are different rules for those.
Thankfully the really valuable materials tend not to be stored in lending libraries. Instead you can only view them in a library under supervision.
I think there's something to be said for token fines (e.g. 1 penny/cent per day) to encourage people to return things.
Library fines trade away everyone's access to books in exchange for some people's hypothetically faster/easier access to books: The fine that you want everyone to have to pay, so that you can access materials more readily, will necessarily prohibit some other people from accessing materials altogether.
Any fine at all is effectively a scorched-earth punishment for being late to return a book....but only for the people who need the library system the most.
Much better to eliminate fines altogether & occasionally have someone less motivated to return a book on time.
If those fines keep people from coming back, why? Also how do people pay those pennies when the cost to process a card payment is much higher?
As someone who, due to the ADHD tax, has funded a wing at my hometown library, I'm one of the targets of this. What motivates me to bring them back is lack of ability to check out new books and general shame. Hell, still get charged if I "lose" the book because I have it out too long.