How do you encourage students to recheck/return materials in a timely
manner?
For one, I don't check out books to them if they have overdue materials.
Twice in my eleven years at this school, I've had a homeroom with no
overdues when I printed overdue notices, and I bought that class treats.
What is your procedure for notifying students of overdue materials, and
how do you maintain student confidentiality?
I print overdue slips by homeroom, and during the first period of the
day,I distribute the slips to individual students. When report cards go
out, I attach overdue slips.
How often do you send out notices?
Approximately once a week.
If you charge a monetary fine for overdue books, how much do you charge?
Is this a daily fine, weekly fine, etc? If students pay the fine, but
never return the book, does the fine amount paid count towards the
replacement cost of the book?
There are no overdue fines, only a charge if the book is lost.
=====================================================================
In my high school, we charge 5 cents per book, per school day, an amount
which has never been increased since 1950. Magazines and a few other
materials are 25 cents. The goal is to have a consequence, not make
money.
Since we use Follett, we generate notices once a week which are
distributed by a student library aide during announcements in the
morning.
If the book is overdue more than two weeks, the student gets detention.
A fine cannot be paid before the book is returned. If it is lost, the
student must pay for the book at the price the school paid for
it but no late fees. If a student pays for a lost book and then finds
it,
he pays a late fee up to the cost of the book, any remainder is refunded.
=====================================================================
I send out my notices to the reading teachers and they had them out. I
send them out every two weeks. The first notice is just a warning. The
second notice is a phone call/letter home and the third is an after
school detention in the library where I make them clean shelves. It works
pretty well, but you really have to call. They'll know if you say it but
really don't do it and you won't get the desired result. My district is
also going to start using Phone Master to call home for overdues. You
just send the file and they automatically call home with a recorded message.
=====================================================================
How do you encourage students to recheck/return materials in a timely
manner?
You will need to start with your freshmen class, or whatever your lowest
grade is in your school, to teach them and inform them of the rules and
regulations of your library. I usually do this during my freshmen
orientation program . Also, if a student has out an overdue item, they
are not permitted to borrow anything else until that item is returned and
the fine paid.
What is your procedure for notifying students of overdue materials, and
how do you maintain student confidentiality? How often do you send out
notices?
I send out overdue notices every 6 weeks which coincides with our marking
periods. The notices are printed as part of our circulation system
(Follett). I coordinate this thru our 1st period since we no longer have
home room periods. These notices are handed out individually which is as
confidential as I can make it.
If you charge a monetary fine for overdue books, how much do you charge?
Is this a daily fine, weekly fine, etc? If students pay the fine, but
never return the book, does the fine amount paid count towards the
replacement cost of the book?
I charge $.05 per day for regular items, $.25 per day for overnight items
(reference and new magazines). I don't accept fines until the book is
returned because my circulation system does not calculate the fine until
the book is returned or marked lost.
Good luck.
=====================================================================
My school is a jr. high with an apathetic student body as far as library
books goes. I, too inherited some problems. I have my kids stay in
isolation at lunch for overdue books at the end of each grading period.
After three notices have been distributed through the English teachers, I
don't feel this is too strict. It sure has cut down on the number of
overdues at the end of each six weeks period. Good luck!
=====================================================================
I don't allow students to check out books if they have even ONE overdue.
I send out overdue notices abt every six weeks, plus notify Core teachers
(students are listed by Core teacher--language arts/social studies) via
email of students who have books out which need to be returned ASAP.
This is generally the books which have a long hold list. We don't charge
overdue fees here; if books are damaged beyond repair or lost, they are
listed as a fine in their permanent record. Students do not receive
reports cards at the end of the year if they have fines, be they from the
library or elsewhere in the school. As far as confidentiality, I leave
that up to the teacher. Last year I printed off individual notices for
the students (a logistical nightmare to cut them all apart, since I don't
want to waste paper printing a separate notice for each students); this
year I have just printed off a list for the teacher and they let the
students know. Too soon to tell if this method is working, but I've had
a couple teachers tells me they prefer the list method so they know which
students to "badger." Goodluck.
=====================================================================
How do you encourage students to recheck/return materials in a timely
manner?
I send out overdue notices the first school day of each week.
What is your procedure for notifying students of overdue materials, and
how do you maintain student confidentiality?
Notices are put in teachers' mailboxes to be given to their 5th period
classes. I don't worry about confidentiality as much as some people do,
since I find the notices dropped on the hallway floor.
How often do you send out notices?
Once a week.
If you charge a monetary fine for overdue books, how much do you charge?
Is this a daily fine, weekly fine, etc? If students pay the fine, but
never return the book, does the fine amount paid count towards the
replacement cost of the book?
We don't charge fines here. At my previous school, a private high
school, we did. ALL obligations (library fines, lost uniforms, dorm
charges, etc.) had to be paid before the student was permitted to take the
final exam. A final was required for every class, and had to be at least
10% of the grade. After the Board put that policy in place everyone
started getting more stuff taken care of. The fine and the price of the
book were two separate things. Fines ran until either the price of the
book was reached or the student declared the book lost and paid for it.
Since many of our books were old and in need of weeding, once the fine
reached the price of the book I stopped increasing it. The student still
had to pay the fine and pay for the book, but sometimes that was a pretty
small amount: a fifty-cent fine for a fifty-cent lost book totaled $1.00.
=====================================================================
Here's the policy I am about to start, for which I first got by-in by the
English teachers, since my middle school (we're a middle and high school)
classes require independent reading:
Regular (not new) books have a 2-week loan period. New books have a
1-week loan period.
ALL books have a 2-day grace period past the date to return them with no
fines.
After the grace period, a fine of 10 cents a day starts to accrue, until
the book is returned. If the book is not returned and the fine reaches
the price of the book, then it stops there. That amount is now due,
whether or not the book is returned.
If a student's fines equal $20.00 they can no longer check out ANY books
until the fine is paid.
If a student has 3 or more overdue books (no matter how long overdue)
then they are not allowed to check out ANY books until at least 2 of the 3
books are returned or paid for.
Any fees still owed at the end of the school year will have to be paid
for the student to return the following year. (We are a charter school).
I hope it works!
=====================================================================
We send out overdues monthly. Also, twice a year, all students who have
overdue fines lose internet privileges. This encourages them to renew and
pay their fines.
=====================================================================
How do you encourage students to recheck/return materials in a timely
manner?
Yes, they are given a two week period to have the material. If they need
it longer then they must recheck for another two week period.
What is your procedure for notifying students of overdue materials, and
how do you maintain student confidentiality?
Once a week we send out notices to their teacher to be passed out to the
student. If it goes over a week, I call the parent or e-mail them.
How often do you send out notices?
Once a week
If you charge a monetary fine for overdue books, how much do you charge?
Is this a daily fine, weekly fine, etc? If students pay the fine, but
never return the book, does the fine amount paid count towards the
replacement cost of the book?
I have a daily fine of 10 cents. If a student loses the book, I do not
require them to pay the fine.. just the cost of the book. They cant pay
a fine UNLESS they have the BOOK. A student may turn in a late book
without paying the fine but our district policy states that all fines
must be paid before another book may be checked out.
=====================================================================
Hope this helps. I am at an elementary building, but it should pertain
to you as well.
How do you encourage students to recheck/return materials in a timely
manner?
Students can not check out if they have overdues. Our staff supports
this. If the teacher insisits, then we check out the item under the
teacher's barcode.
What is your procedure for notifying students of overdue materials, and
how do you maintain student confidentiality?
We usually print it off when they come to the desk for check out. Our
computer will make a sound that means they have overdues.
How often do you send out notices? at check out time we print it off and
then send the notice with the students. We do send repeat offenders a
notice home in the mail. We have also done overdues at conference time,
too.
If you charge a monetary fine for overdue books, how much do you charge?
Is this a daily fine, weekly fine, etc? If students pay the fine, but
never return the book, does the fine amount paid count towards the
replacement cost of the book?
We usually charge the student the price of the book. If the books is
later found we issue them a refund. If the book is returned damamged, we
do the same, but then I give the student the damamged book back... We
donot deal with fines....
=====================================================================
Since everything is a mess from last year, I would declare amnesty and
start over with this year's checkouts. Make everything still checked out
to a student lost with no fine. Delete all daily overdue fines, if you
have them. I know from experience that this creates a great deal of good
will and good PR for you, the new librarian.
We do charge daily overdue fines of five cents per day at my current
school, but I have charged ten cents per day in other schools, with a
maximum of $5.00 in overdue fines. If a book is lost, both the overdue
charges and the replacement cost are charged to the student. If a student
comes to let us know that the book is lost early, they can avoid accruing
daily overdue fines.
Good luck. I understand inheriting a mess and I know it's frustrating. :)
=====================================================================
How do you encourage students to recheck/return materials in a timely
manner? I charge fines for overdue books. This applies to students in
grades 4-8.
What is your procedure for notifying students of overdue materials, and
how do you maintain student confidentiality? Our students check out books
with a library card. I tried the "honor system" especially when I wasn't
available to check the books out(I do cafeteria duty, and teach 25+
classes), but met a lot of excuses when books came up missing. By using
library cards, books can only be checked out to the card holder. It's
worked well. Confidentiality is in place. Students are reminded of
overdue
items when they check other items out. Overdue notices go out just before
report cards. Cards are held if fines aren't paid and/or overdue items
outstanding.
How often do you send out notices? Twice every six weeks; the day grades
close and the day cards go out.
If you charge a monetary fine for overdue books, how much do you charge?
Five cents per day per book. Students are not charged if they are out
sick, but they must return their books when they return. If they don't
return them the day they return to school, the fines kick in.
Is this a daily fine, weekly fine, etc? If students pay the fine, but
never return the book, does the fine amount paid count towards the
replacement cost of the book?
Books must be in the student's hand to renew(that way I know THEY know
where the books are! Overdue books must be turned in to get report cards.
If they don't know where they are, I call them lost until they show up.
Students would rather clean their rooms and find the books than explain a
$25.00 charge for a book!
=====================================================================
I have only been in our library for 1 year and it is K-12. The older the
student, the less likely they will return the materials in on time.
However, I have found persistence to be a very valuable trait as it is in
doing anything with kids. We are a small school with only about 75 JH
and HS students. Elementary is charged 10 cents a day for overdues and
they get right on them because they pull cards for not being responsible
if they don’t take care of business. However, the upper grades only have
a 10 minute homeroom and often the teachers don’t have time to worry about
library books. So here’s what I do. I send a notice to their homeroom
every single day I am there (3 days a week). The fine for overdues is 25
cents a day which adds up pretty quick. The teachers get tired of
getting the notices and after a week or so, I write on the notice, “See me.”
That usually gets them in if they can find the book which is usually
submerged in their locker or backpack. We don’t compute the fine until
the book is turned in so if the book is lost, then they would pay the
price of the book and a $5.00 handling fee. If students don’t respond, I
call the parents. If it is still not taken care of, we send the parents a
bill. It is difficult when teachers don’t support library policy but if
you adhere to your policy consistently, eventually word gets around. Our
elementary teachers are great because they put it in the context of
teaching responsibility. This is the start of my second year and I can
say it has not been a problem this year.
Hope this helps.
=====================================================================
We are having a terrible time, as well. The things that are most helpful
to us:
1)homeroom teachers who "get on" the kids for us. Some of them are real
bulldogs for getting the books back. We reward the homerooms at the end
of the year who have no overdues with doughnuts. Yeah, there's some peer
pressure going there, too.
2)We put overdue notices in bright colors in kids' folders for parent
conferences.
Good luck!
=====================================================================
I send out overdue notices through the students’ English teachers. I
guess that really doesn’t maintain confidentiality, but other than
tracking them down myself, I’m not sure how to do that. I guess I could
tell the English teacher to “send these students to the library,” but then
they might not show up. I try to send the notices out every week, but
sometimes it’s longer than that. We charge 5 cents a day for late fees
with a one day grace period, but I often cancel those out if they are only
a day or two late or if I get the book back. If they lose a book, they pay
the replacement cost. If they don’t, they can’t check out books. Sometimes
at the high school, I’ll make an announcement that if they return an
overdue book by the end of the week, all fines will be forgiven. At the
elementary level (k-5) we don’t charge fines, but they are charged for
lost or damaged books.
=====================================================================
We do not charge fines, but do charge for lost materials.
When a book is overdue, I send out a first notice; a week later a second
notice; a week later a bill.
When the book is four weeks overdue, the student gets another bill along
with a notice which says something like - you have a book which is more
than four weeks overdue. If the materials are not returned or paid for,
if lost, by (I fill in a date 3 days after the notice will be received)
you will serve UP to five lunch detentions in the library. Then, at the
bottom : If you skip the lunch detention, you will be assigned an
after-school detention.
I let the student know that if the book is not returned after the student
serves five detentions, a letter will go home.
The day before the first detention will be served, I send a reminder.
If the student serves the five detentions (very rare), and the book is
still not back, I send a note home with, if possible, a picture of the
cover taken from Amazon or Follett if the book is new enough. I know that
I am breaking confidentiality by sending a note home - but the kids are
warned about this.
Last week, I sent out nine notices. 7 books came back before the
students had to serve any detentions, one student paid for a book (which
was then found - I reimbursed the student). Only one student had to serve
detentions. He skipped the first one, and for his trouble got 2 school
detentions - then served two detentions with me as well before he got
tired of the "game" and paid me $2.00 for a missing magazine!
So you see, it works for us - the kids do NOT like lunch detentions away
from their friends. Fortunately, my principal backs me up. He did not at
first, until I showed him my success rate.
=====================================================================
I work at a middle school, so this may not work for H.S., but the thing
that's worked best for us is to remove computer privileges for books more
than 30 days past due. They seem to get them back pretty quick after
that. Good luck to you, it really does sound like a mess.
=====================================================================
We have had a similar situation. Trying to tie overdues to eligibility,
field trips...last stop is payment must occur or they can't walk in
graduation procession.
=====================================================================
Our library has a written library policy. As a part of that policy are
guidelines for overdue books and fines/replacement cost, etc. That policy
is also in the student handbook---for obvious reasons.
A fine is .05 per day excluding days the library is closed during the
regular school week, weekends, holidays, days that a student is sick or
absent.
We also do not let a student check additional materials out if there is a
fine on the material. If a book is lost, the student is responsible for
the current replacement cost. If a book is damaged, a judgment is made
on
what to charge the student.
I found that not allowing a student to check out books if there is a fine
to be paid has been a big incentive to them. It is a bit more palatable
when I tell them the nickel is much cheaper than the public library which
charges $.25 every day the book is late!
I hope this helps.
=====================================================================
We used to hold report cards each quarter, which worked well, but the
principal became convinced that some were deliberately holding back books
so they wouldn't get their unwanted report cards.
So now, we send out notices about every month and a half.
The notices go to the first period teachers. I include titles, but you
should be able to send notices without titles, if you prefer. My
philosophy is that when the book becomes overdue, the "contract"
is broken, and confidentiality is no longer an issue.
When books are more than a month old, I refer those students to the
dean of students, who schedules them for a "two hour," which is what
the kids call a detention. The books come flying in to avoid the
detention.
We do not charge any overdue fines. Money only changes hands when a lost
or damaged book must be replaced. If the lost book is returned in good
condition, the replacement fee is returned.
In the rare case of a student owing a book at the end of the year, the
report card is held until a parent comes to school to settle accounts.
In addition, since we are a small school, I see students throughout the
day, and will remind them of overdues as I see them, encouraging them to
renew if they need more time.
Hope this helps.
=====================================================================
I came into a position last year after the MS retired midway through the
previous year. The substitute did a good job of tracking down most of
the
books. Thus I didn't have anyone to ask about any previous overdue
policies.
I decided to send overdue notices once a week. I assigned colors for
each
notice (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th week). These are sent to the students via
their homeroom. The 3rd week states final notice, the 4th week states
homework hall. If the student doesn't return the book by the 4th week, I
assign them a homework hall until the book is returned. If I don't hear
from the student, I stop by their classes and ask them about the book. I
have great support from my teachers. This system worked well my first
year and I decided to use the same system again.
=====================================================================
Joy, when kids have an overdue book they can't check out anything else
including the computers in the media center or the lab. Amazingly if they
can't get on a computer to type their paper or follow the lesson their
teachers have brought them down to do, they usually cough up the book in
a
hurry! I usually will warn a kid once but if the book is more than a day
or two overdue, they have to return it before they can use a computer. We
don't have fines here so it's my only leverage. We can also put an
overdue
notice in the place of a report card for conferences but I've found a lot
of kids don't care if they get the card-- they just ask the teacher for
their grades.
I print overdue notices and have them distributed by first hour teachers.
You could fold them in half and staple them so no one could read them but
I don't.
=====================================================================
I have an envelope for each lab teacher (I'm in a vocational high
school) and I place the overdue slip in the envelope. On the outside of
the envelope is the teacher's name, their program and this message:
In this envelope are notices for students with books that need
to be returned to the library or a reminder that they have books checked
out that will need to be returned to the library.
"Please give these notices to the students.
The month and date the book was/is due is highlighted. The year
is before the month and date. Example: 05-10-21 means that the book was
due back to the library on October 21, 2005.
Please return the envelope to the library's mail box."
You could adapt it for home room teachers, grade level teachers, first
period teachers, what would work for your school.
I use envelopes that are larger than 8 1/2x11, and they are used for
several years. I also laminate the information that is taped to the
envelope.
Hope this helps.
Joy Doggett
Library Media Specialist
Vinita High School
Vinita, OK
doggetja@vinitahornets.com
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