HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003 Resolution No. 031•
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RESO LUTI ON NO. j /
SE RI ES OF 2003 --
A RE SOLUTI ON APPROVIN G AN IN CREASE IN TH E ST RUCTU RE OF OVERDUE
LIB RARY FIN ES AS A WAY TO INCREA SE CIT Y REVENUE .
WH EREAS , th e Englewoo d Pu bli c Lib rary hns maint ain ed its pres ent fi ne strn cture fo r
ove rdu e li br,ry materials chec ked out fro m th e Ma in Lib rary (IO ce nts per da y) and from th e
Bookmob il e (3 ce nts per da y) sin ce 1985; and
WHEREAS , th e Englewood Pu bli c Lib rary provid es it s pa tro ns wi th a telep hone num ber
whereby th ey ca n call and renew an it em befo re it s due date with out hav ing to go to th e Main
Lib rary or Bookm obile ; and
WHE REA S, the Englewood Pu bli c Library believe s th at a sin gle charge fo r all ty pes of
materi als is easie r to remember ; and
WHERE AS, the Englewood Public Library pro po ses changing the current Ov erdu e Fin es
from a two tie red structure to on e fine of 20 cent s per day for nil it ems and changin g the
max imum ove rdu e charge per item fr om $2 .00 to $5 .00 per it em for mat eri als checked out at
eith er the Main Library or Bookmobile ; and
WHEREAS , the Englewood Publi c Library Board proposes a chan ge of its annual "Food
fo r Fin es'· program to pro vide for two shorter "amn es ty'' period s to encourage the return of
overdue Library materi als .
NOW , THEREFORE , BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNC IL OF TH E CITY
OF EN GLE WOOD , CO LORAD O, THAT:
Secti on I . City Co uncil hereby approves raisin g th e Ov erdu e Fi ne s from the curre , .t two-
ti ered sc hedule to ~O ce nt s per day for all it ems chec ked out of eith er th e Main Library or t\.o .
Boo kmobile .
Sec ti on 2. City Coun cil also app roves rai sin g th e max imum overdu e per it em c1.rn rge
fr om $2.00 per item to $5 .00 per item.
Se cti on 3. City Co uncil also appro ves a change in the annual "Food fo r F,11es" prog ram
for ove rdue items to provide for two short er peri ods of tim e fo r th e pro gram .
ADOPT ED AN D APPROVED thi s IS'h day of February , 200 3.
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COUNCIL COMMUNIC/1TION
DATE AGENDA ITEM SUB JECT
February 18, 2003 11 Ci In crease of Library Overd ue Fin es &
Limit s
INITI ATED BY I STAFF SOURCE
Libra ry D epartment I Hank Long. Direc tor of Library Services
C01.'NCIL GOAl AND PR /IO US COUNCIL ACTION
Th , N e,ent stru cture f,ir overdue li brary fines goes back to 1985 when th e Eng lewood Public
Library first automal ed its circuh tion system. It is my understanding th at Counci l gave approval to
the orese nt fo,ei lee stru cture at that tim e.
RECOMME OL J •c noN
·c w Lib ia ,'; [)~p artment recommends City Coun cil approva l of a Reso luti on to increase th e
stru cture J f ove rdu e library fin es as a way to increa se City reve nue.
BACKGROUND , ANALYSIS, AND ALTERNATIVES IDENTIFIED
Sin c e 1985, th e Library has maintai n ed its present fine structure for overdue library materials o f l.Q!
~ fo r items checked out fr om th e Main Library and ~ for item s checked ou t fr om the
Bookmobile. There is c urren tl y a maximum of $2.00 per item on ALL overdu e library fines. EPL
also p rovi des patrons with a 3-day grace period on most of th e EP L materi als circul ated, meaning
th at no charges accru e on overdue items re turn ed with in thi s tim efr ame. In additio n, EPL provides
its pa trons with a teleph one number whereby they ca n ca ll anci renew an item b efore its due date
w ith out havin g to go to the Main Library or Bookmobile. In order to enco urage th e return of its
materi als and to make th em available to ,1 wider audi ence, EP L res tri cts th e renewal of its circul atin g
materials to a single ren ewa l.
Th e st ructure fo r overdu e fines at EF'L is different from its charges for lost or damaged mateiials. In
•· ·,·se instances, the patron is charg <,d fo r th e cost of a repla ce m ent item, plus a $5 .00 proces sing
.•~ (thi s c harge , wh ich m os t libraries utili ze, c overs th e reord ering of th e replacem en t item, its
. ~moval from th e li brary database, p lu s th e tim e/labo r/materi als cos t fo r re-cataloging and
processi ng of th e new replacement.)
In rev iewin g th e stru cture fo r ov erdue library fin es at other me tro-D enve r p ublic libraries, w e
discov ered th at fo ur li brary systems (Adams, Aur ora, Li tt leton, and Arapa hoe Library Distric t) still
c harge 10¢ pe r da y for overd ue library materials w hil e two oth ers (D en ver Pu blic Library and
Jefferson County Public Library) charg e 20¢ p er day . Within each sys tem, however, th e way th ese
overdu e charges are figured differs grea tl y, e.g. so me have di ffe rent cha rg es for adult and childre n's
m aterials, so m e waive overdu e charge s fo r seniors, so m e cha rge differently depending on th e type
of mat eri al ci rcula ted, etc. All of w hi ch ten ds to c rea te confusion on b ehalf of library patrons across
th e metro area. At EP L, we believe that ou r philosophy of a singl e charg e fo , all types of m ateria ls is
ea si er fo r th e p ublic to rem ember.
We propose chang in E the current stru ctu re of overdu e fines fr om 10¢ per day to 20¢ per da y for all
il ems and changing th~ maximum ove rdu e per llem fro m $2 .00 per item to $5.00 per item ,
rega rdl ess o f w heth er these mat eria ls are checked out at the Main Library o r at th e Bookmobile.
We beli eve that give n our present opti ons for EPL patrons to either return ove rdu e mater ials w ithin
th e exist ing grace period o r else t o re new them 111 person or ove r th e tel ephone, this increase is
bo th reasonable and justifi ed.
Sta ff presented thi s proposal to th e Lib rary Boa rd at their meeting of February 11 , 2003, and th e
Board voted unanim o usly to support th e recomm ended changes . Th ere was dis cus sion about
elim inatin g th e Lib rary's annua l "Food for Fin es" pr ogram so more people don't ho ld o n to th eir
it ems in order to ge t o ut of paying overdue fin es. When it was ex plain ed that on e of th e reasons
for this popular public "amnesty" p ro gram was to get our books ba ck, the Board vo ted to continue
th is program but with the foll owing modificatio ns . In ste ad of one 4-5 week amnesty period at th e
end of the yea r, th e Board rec o mmended havin g two, two-week amnesty periods each year, e.g. at
th e end of the sc ho ol ye ar and during the November/D ece mber holidays. They felt that this
change will result in overdue Library materials being returned quicker in order to be us ed by more
patrons . The\ felt th at eliminati on of the "Food for Fines " program might result in a few more
dollars in income but that this increase would be offset by negative publicity for th e Library and a
possibl e loss uf more unreturn ed Library materials.
If City Council approves thi s proposal, we w ill implement the new changes in ea rl y A pril so as to
provide ou r pat rons with reaso nable notice of the new ove rdue charge structure through sig nage in
th e Main Li brary and Bookmobile as well as through art icles in th e local media .
FINANCIAL IMPACT
In 2002, the Library returned over $17,000 to the City in overd ue fines. We est imate that th e
proposed changes o utlined ab ove w ill brin g in an additional $10,000 p er year to the City's Genera l
Fund .
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