It's my turn to weigh in on this topic. I do not charge fines for overdue
books, nor do I intend to. The main reason is because, if I charge fines, I
have to make ABSOLUTELY sure the records are kept correctly. I am the only
staff member with two libraries to handle for grades PreK-12. They are both
unlocked all day long. I have no way of being sure when books are returned.
I think the district is paying me way too much money to become an overdue
book clerk. I have a lot more important things to do. Of course there are
books that are out for a long, long time. I do hold report cards which gets
some of them back. I limit how many overdues are out to one student by not
letting them check out anymore until overdues are returned. But I don't
worry about it otherwise. I also let the kids start with a clean slate every
fall, even though some kids seem to be building a personal library! I have
said this about a lot of topics we've discussed here. Pick your battles.
I'm a librarian, not a clerk. I don't worry about "clerky" things my bosses
don't ask me about (statistics, etc.). I also don't worry about
lost/overdue books. Ultimately it is the taxpayers who have to pony up for
the irresponsibility of the patrons in the school. Don't think that I don't
care, because I do. But, I try to "worry" about things I have control over,
and let the rest take care of themselves.
Janet Perry, Librarian
Cerro Gordo CUSD 100, Cerro Gordo, IL
perrybros@hotmail.com
_________________________________________________________________
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