Fines at Dubuque County Library

First of all I hope all of you have recovered from our recent downpour.  What a mess!  My house which has had water in the basement one time in twenty-five years (according to the previous owners) suffered again Wednesday evening.  There just isn't anywhere for ten inches of rain to go in that short a time.  On the bright side, it gave us a good excuse to pull up the shag carpeting in the downstairs bedroom although I would rather have done that when it wasn't totally soaked.  Our libraries were fine and we were open regular hours.

We had a board meeting last week and I want to let you know about some upcoming changes at the library.  Based on staff recommendations, the board approved a new circulation policy that the library will begin charging fines for overdue materials beginning September 1st.  The board and staff feel that this is a stewardship issue.  Our materials are purchased with tax dollars from the county and the cities we serve.  Those materials are meant to be shared by all of the citizens eligible for library service.  When those materials aren't returned on time other citizens are not able to use them.  Most libraries across the country charge a small penalty or late fee for items not returned on time. 

All library materials checked out before September 1st are not subject to a fine.  We hope our customers will return those materials as quickly as possible.  For library materials checked out after September 1st, Dubuque County Library will charge 20 cents per item per day for books not returned by their due date and 50 cents per day for each overdue DVD. 

To help our customers adjust to a new way of doing things, we also instituted a 48 hour grace period so that your fine will not begin until 2 days after the item is due.  And also to help our customers adjust to a new system, we have lengthened our loan period from 14 days to 21 days. 

The great thing about overdue fines is that you never have to pay them if you return your materials on time or renew them before they are due.  You can renew items by calling the library or using your online library account.  Also, if you have provided us your email address, we will notify you before your items are due and remind you if they are not returned.

And if you do end up having to pay a small late charge you can think of it as a contribution to the library's collection.   All the money collected for fines will go towards the purchase of library materials.

Not everything in life is fair, but you can make things equal.  The library is striving to be a responsible custodian of the tax dollars you give us.  We want all of our customers to have an opportunity to use the materials in the library's collection and have an expectation that they will be able to use materials that are checked out to another customer when they are due back to the library.  I will post the new fine schedule on our library homepage so there are no surprises.  There will be information on fines next week at all of our branch libraries.

Please let me know if you have questions or concerns about your library.   Have a good weekend.
Dawn