RE: [IUG] Damaged Items

["Marylin Thompson" <Marylin dot Thompson at yolocounty dot org>]

1.  Davis Branch, Yolo County Library, Davis, California
2.  We charge for certain types of damage - those things due to patron abuse - eg. wet/moldy books,pages torn or missing, covers chewed.  We used to open and check each item upon return for damage but don't have the resources to do that anymore.  Therefore, we don't really know who did the damage when discovered unless it is something we feel we would have noticed at checkout or so obvious we couldn't have missed it at check in.
3.  Our fee schedule allows for partial damage fees of up to $5.  We usually charge $2 for damage which can be repaired and the item still circulated (new book jacket).  We do charge more when we need to replace an entire DVD or CD box - including graphics and labels.  If we can replace one damaged cassette tape from a set, we charge whatever the vendor charges us.  We charge full replacement cost plus a $5 processing fee when the item is too damaged to continue circulating.  Sometimes this is just a judgment call - is the coffee stain on too many pages?
We also allow patrons to purchase and replace an exact duplicate of the damaged item in lieu of paying our cost because they can often get it cheaper online.  We still do charge the $5 processing fee for these.
4. and 5.  This has always been our policy except, for a while, we refused to accept patron-supplied replacement copies.  There were too many complaints about the price so we relented but it is not our preference.
We simply add a manual charge for either a damage or replacement fee and add a brief note describing the damage, the title and the barcode.
6. We migrated from Inlex and did not change our policy although it is harder to post a replacement fee on III because they do not have a "damaged" category as Inlex did for fines.  We don't use the "mark items lost" for damaged items because it is just not accurate.
Marylin Thompson
-----Original Message-----
From: innopac-bounces at innopacusers dot org
[mailto:innopac-bounces at innopacusers dot org]On Behalf Of Rachael Moore
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2006 1:02 PM
To: innopac at innopacusers dot org
Subject: [IUG] Damaged Items


I need some information from all you III Public Libraries out there to get a feel for what other public libraries are doing.  Please take a moment to answer the following questions....your answers are invaluable to me for a test project I am working on.  Feel free to reply off list.


1. What is the full name of your institution?

2. Do you charge your patrons for items returned damaged?

3. Do you charge those patrons for full cost, partial cost, or both?

4. If you only charge for replacements, has this always been the policy?  

5. If you also charge for partial cost of damaged items, how have you configured your system to handle this process?

6. If you migrated from another system to III, did you change your damage policy?  What changed?  



Thanks in advance for your help.

Rach




Rachael Moore
Assistant Computer Manager
Weber County Library
2464 Jefferson Avenue
Ogden, UT 84401
phone/fax: (801) 337-2682
rmoore at weberpl dot lib dot ut dot us



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