Old Dominion University Libraries is Ending Late Fees on General Collection Items
From The Virginian-Pilot:
As an olive branch to the stressed college student, the Norfolk school is getting rid of late fees on its general collection – the books, government documents and DVDs.
Library staff say this puts ODU in the middle of the pack of universities and colleges throughout the state making the policy change. William & Mary, James Madison University and Virginia Commonwealth University have already stopped charging late fees on their general collections, they said.
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The ODU library staff analyzed projected revenue and spending for fiscal 2017. The total estimated library fines – not just for the general circulation, but also equipment, reserve materials, bound journals and recalled items – was about $11,400. But the staff costs to process all fines was about $17,000, Fowler said.
In short, the library expected to lose about $5,600 just dealing with late materials. When staff looked at what would happen if general collection items were taken out of the equation, they found a nominal difference, Fowler said: The library still would lose money but slightly less – about $5,400.
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See Also: ODU Libraries Blog Post
About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.