Experiences with circulating items for a quarter

[Steven Moody <smoody@xxxxxxxxxx>]

We are considering changing our circulation policies so that items
circulate until the end of the current academic quarter.  Have any other
academic libraires taken this step and if so, what have been your
experiences, pro or con?

We are wanting to take this step since we do not charge fines and thus have
no teeth in our overdue policies except for blocking registration.  So
patrons who keep items overdue within the quarter can ignore our overdue,
billing, and statement of charges notices with impunity and my argument is
that it is a waste of resources to throw the notices at the patrons and go
through the blocking and unblocking procedures when anyone who pays
attention will quickly discover we are all bark and no bite.

Thanks in advance for any shared experiences.


Steven Moody




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Steven Moody                         smoody@xxxxxxxxxx
Library Systems Manager              http://library.jfku.edu     
Robert M. Fisher Library             PHONE: 925-258-2398   
John F. Kennedy University           FAX:   925-254-8136
12 Altarinda Road                    
Orinda CA 94563-2603