Hello everyone -
Here is my original posting with the responses I have received. People have asked
for a hit. Thanks so much to those who replied!
Rita Ann Thompson
Librarian
Pennsbury High School
Fairless Hills, PA
rthompson@pennsbury.k12.pa.us
***************************
Hello Lm_Netters.
We are rewriting our library curriculum and looking at what we charge for fines.
Our high school is 9th through 12th grade and runs on a block schedule. We
currently charge non-reference books, $0.10 a day, maxed at $5.00. Reference
books we charge $0.25 a day, maxed at $7.50.
I was just trying to get an idea of what other high schools charge for fines. Some
people are telling me that this is too low. Could some of you share what you do at
your high school?
Thanks!
*******************
Well, I guess that makes us real low, for we charge $.05/ school day for
all books. We do not put a max amount due to the low charge.
***************
We eliminated fines in 1989. Fines would not be a hardship in our community but we
don't feel it is worth the effort and we didn't get to keep the money. If students
don't return their materials, we close their online grade account.
*************
.10 a day no max
*************
We charge .10 a day and max out at the price of the book but, I'm kind of a softy
and if the kid brings the book back even if it's way over due, I usually don't
charge more than $5.00 because all I really want is the book returned.
****************
I charge $.05 per day for regular materials and $.25 for reference
materials. We max at $10.00 per item regardless of type of book. I am thinking
about raising the regular fines to $.10 per day.
**************
$.10 day for non-reference. Fine max is price of book. We quit
checking out reference materials. It was too hard to try and replace
volumes of books when students lost them. Plus they were so expensive
to replace we rarely got the money from the students.
***************
Our school charges ten cents and twenty-five cents for
regular and reference, respectively. Our max for both is
$3.00. I have not raised it and this is because I have
heard a lot of administrators are not allowing fines at
all. I don't want them to think we are being greedy so I
am leaving it alone.
*****************
We aren't allowed to charge for fines. Most of our kids wouldn't pay it
if we did and we don't have any way of enforcing it.
******************
We charge .05 cents a day for everything (we don't let reference go out after
losing the D book in the encyclopedia) but we cap it at half the price of the book.
We also waive the fine if it's under a quarter. It makes us look nice and we
aren't nickel and diming them to death.
********************
We charge 5 cents per day with a 1 day grace period; 25 cents for reference; $1.00
for student equipment except graphing calculators. We cap our fines at the cost of
the materials. We are also a 9-12 high school.
********************
We charge ten cents a day for all books and magazines and max out at $2.00. I used
to max out at $5.00, but my principal thought that was too high.
We are a 9-12 college prep high school - all-boys.
I charge 10 cents a day for overdue items. Reference items do not circulate as they
are used all day (lots of research classes). The former librarian had a limit of
$25.00 in fines - but I seldom have fines accrue higher than $7.00. Lost items are
cost to replace plus $3.00 processing - however Ibuild that in to the price of the
book as listed in the records to keep anyone from arguing over it.
**********************
At our school, it is school policy that all fines and fees must be paid before a
student is allowed to take Semester and Final Exams. I have to turn in to the
Principal a list of anyone who has outstanding items or fines each morning of the
exams. That student can only take the exam after clearing his record. Since taking
the exam at a different time - other than for sickness or excused absence, means a
full letter grade deduction. I don't have a problem getting everything back and all
fines paid.
***********************
Please post a hit. We charge a nickel a day with the maximum the price of the book
**************************
We are a 9-12th campus. We charge $.10 a day for regular check out and
$.50 for reference and magazines. We max out at $4.00. We do not count
weekends and school closed days.
**********************
It's my understanding that in New York State, we are not allowed to
charge fines, so we never have. I figured it's just as well, since I
don't want to have to chase kids for books AND for money. I envision
getting the book back, and then having to chase the kid for the 20
cents!
********************
I am a Junior High but I charge 10 cents per day up to the cost of the book. This
includes weekends and days the school is closed. My way of thinking is if the
student had returned the book on time some other student would have had the
opportunity to read it over the weekend or holiday. Of course if the school is
closed on a regular week day I have it programmed into the circulation system so
due dates are adjusted accordingly and the books are due the first school day
following a holiday.
********************
I am probably the exception to the rule. I don't charge fines.
If a student loses a book it is a different story. I do charge the
replacement cost then.
The main reason I don't charge fines: I am terrible at handling money.
If I was going to charge fines, I would go at 10 cents a day, but would max out at
the price of the book or at $15.00, whichever is less. And for reference books I
would set it at 25 cents a day but max it out at the price of the book or at
$25.00, whichever is less.
Also, I check non-reference books out for three weeks at a time (the
students rarely keep them out that long), and reference books for three days at a
time.
Attendance at the prom, by the way, is a great incentive for students to take care
of what they still owe at the end of the year. We do it to collect class dues and
pretty much everything else.
***********************
We don't charge any fines, so I don't think you are too low. Since I
got rid of fines, I haven't noticed any difference in the number of
books that are overdue. We had a lot then, and we have a lot now.
**********************
We don't charge fines here at all. The previous administration didn't
like the idea, and after 10 years, I'm comfortable with doing less work, too.
***********************
We are 9-12 and we charge .10 per day up to the price of the book. I don't think
reference has a different amount...most of my ref has been changed to NF and
reshelved so it will get used. :) Lisa
*******************************
The previous librarian set up fines for 5 cents per school day, max
at $1.00 and I have left it there. There are several reasons for not
increasing the fine: it's hard to get students to pay this small amount, some
students really do not have the money, and maybe most important of all is the fine
is just a reminder for them to show responsibility. (Not that it works most of the
time, but I try.)
**************************
We have the same 10 cent per day fine (weekends count) but max out at 10.00. Most
of these kids have more money than I do and don't care how long they keep a book.
I do wave fines on occasion and for illness. We use to charge 2 cents and
students would check out books in September and I would not see them untill
Christmas. Have a great summer.
*********************************************
By state law , we are not able to charge fines for late materials. We
can only charge for lost/damaged materials.
*********************
Mine is similar -- 10 cent/day for "regular" stuff -- max out at $3.00
(per time 25 cents/day for reference - max out at $3.00 as well
Anything gone more than 30 day for regular stuff/15 days for Reference
is declared lost and a replacement fee posted to their record (THAT gets
their attention)
***********************
I have never charged fines. In my public school district or my private
school. It has to be a logistical and bookkeeping nightmare and does not encourage
children to turn books in on time. You have money subject to theft, as kids believe
it is around somewhere, even if it is not. And, I believe it harbors ill will among
students and discourages library use when you have to badger them to pay fines. I
have an almost 100% success rate in retrieving overdue books through email, calls
home, notes to advisors or homeroom teachers, and just talking to students about
responsibilities and others needing the materials. As a last resort,
report cards are held at the end of the year. And, if I happen to lose onebook, I
have not lost a library patron.
******************
We do not charge fines. We give Lower School students an overdue notice every
week. Middle and Upper schoolers are given overdues once a month. I can't speak
for the MS/US library, but in Lower School (PreK-5), we have a very low rate of
books that are overdue. The children are very aware of how many items they have
out (a maximum of 4) and if an item is late, it is not late for long.
We do, however, at the end of the year, give the children a final reminder. If the
book is not returned by the final due date, a letter and overdue notice are sent to
the parents. After a week, if the book is not returned, a bill is sent. Report
cards are held until the book is either replaced or the replacement value we charge
is settled. Replacement value for a Lower School book--$20 for paper, $30 for
hardback.
Last year we had 11 items that were not returned. We received payment/replacement
for 7. The other 4 we had to put to lost as we will never see the book...or money.
Charging fines proved to be a bookkeeping boondoggle we no longer wanted to deal
with.
Not charging fines has worked well for us.
*************************
We charge a nickel a day, but it maxes out at the price of the book. It is the
same for reference.
************************
We only charge for lost or damaged books.
***************************
We run .10 a day maxing at $2.00 for standard books, .25 a day for reference also
maxing at $2.00 per item.
Our community is primarily blue collar, with a growing minority population shifting
out from Milwaukee (we are first suburb west of the city in our area).
***************************
We stopped charging fines at our High School over a decade ago. It didn't get the
books returned, and chasing fine money in addition to our books was more of a
headache than the money was worth. What we do instead is after 3-4 overdue notices
(we send them out weekly), we assign the students detention. They get several days'
notice of the detention, and if they return, renew, or pay for the library
materials before the detention date, they do not have to serve the detention.
Out of about 10-15 detention notices a week, we have maybe 5 that need to
stay after, and when they blow it off (because they always do) we write them up for
the cut, and the Assistant Principal assigns consequences for
cutting. They then get assigned detention with us weekly until resolved.Once we got
the system in place, it's less hassle than fines were. We also have a VERY generous
refund policy--if they pay for a lost book and find it in good condition, even a
year or more later, we refund their money.
******************************
We charge 10 cents/day and have done that for at least 15 years. That is almost
too much for some of our kids.
***********************
We charge 5 cents per day maxing out at the value of the book. I am in a 9-12 high
school.
***************************
We do not charge for over dues, but we do put on their fine record the
entire replacement cost if it has not been returned in a few months. I
don't have the manpower to deal with fines and it works for me this way.
***************************
Hello! I just went through this same issue. Our 9-12th library fine has been
$0.10 a day for non-reference and $0.25 a day for reference for years! Students
really do not seem to care if they get fines or not. This year when the handbook
committee asked for my policies I decided to raise the fines. I am waiting to see
how it goes over but starting next year all overdue fines (reference or non) will
be $0.25 per school day. I am hoping this will help decrease our overdue books but
we will see.
*************************
We charge .25 per book per day. A student can have as many as 5 books checked out.
Our fines max out at $8.00. It used to be $5.00, but that won't buy many
replacements these days. We also check out calculators on a daily basis. The fine
for them is $1.00 per day. While I'm not trying to make life difficult for
students, I do think that by the time a student is in 10th grade, he or she needs
to take some responsibility. College and university libraries are not going to
listen to their excuses. I probably wouldn't charge as much at the elementary level.
******************************
We charge a nickel a day with a max of $5.00. and .25 per day for reference
with a max of $5.00.
************************
I just lowered the reference book fine from $.25 to match the regular fine of
$.10/school day late. I didn’t like the difference. Late magazines are also
$.10/day.
Low? Yes. But there’s no excuse to keep an outstanding balance. I tell parents,
it’s not about the money. It’s about teaching responsibility to meet the contract.
As we’re a private school, we can withhold report cards, diplomas, and even
allowing them to take their final exams if they have any outstanding obligations at
the school. Some parents are grateful; others get very upset over a $.10 fine
stopping the process. I tell them that I hope the situation makes such a lasting
impression on their child that they never get socked with a late fine on their
future credit card balances. That usually stops further complaints.
*********************************
We are also on a block schedule. The school is in
rural area and many of our students are on free or
reduced lunch, so ee do not charge any fines. We do,
however hold report cards if students have overdues,
have not turned in textbooks, or have lunch charges.
**********************
We charge .05 cents per day and are going to increase it. When we tell the
students what the fine is, they laugh because it is so incredibly minimal. I don't
think it serves the purpose of getting overdue books back at all, really it is just
a way to generate some fun money for incidentals (contest prizes, etc.) The best
way to get overdue books back is to call their homes or hunt the kids down during
the day.
****************************
Our system works perfectly for me. I discovered about 5 years ago that students
resented library fines that increased every day. They got markedly antagonistic
about five cents a day, etc. In a swoop I fixed it. The overdue fine is now
$1.00. It is $1.00 when it is assessed, and it stays $1.00. The trick is that
there is a 20 school-days grace period (that works out to 5 cents a day, but I
don't tell them that). They have a 3-week checkout period. Then they have 4 more
weeks to get the item back in or renew it before the fine of $1.00 is assessed.
That gives them at least 3 notices--one a week before the "extended use fee" is
levied.
***************************
When I assessed fines daily it drove me crazy making sure each student was aware of
the increasing fine. It just isn't right to charge a fine and surprise a kid with
it. Now I print out overdues once a week, send them to the classes, and I don't
bother the teachers the other 4 days of the week.
****************************
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