I'll let you guess what I just paid, ouch it hurt :cry: . Does anyone else get sidetracked and forget about the library books until they are way past due, or am I the only one?
We use the library a lot but so far have remembered to take everything back on time or call to renew them. I hope the fines didn't hurt too bad.
I usually am very careful but realized earlier this week I had missed a video and the are $.75 a day late fee. I went yesterday and cleaned up the three cards I use regularly and it hurt! I can access my account on-line and that helps. Also our system just started an email notification that actually lists the books that are due. We are allowed 30 items per card I quite often fill 3 cards! I try to be really careful with my due dates because I know I'll be in trouble if I don't!
I'm usually pretty good. Ours also does an e-mail notification like Jennifer mentioned. I get four out of five cards sent to my e-mail. The only one I don't keep track of is Rachael's. But I also don't pay the "little" fines, and they will build up. So every so often, I will pay off all five cards at once, and they do add up. Also, in the summer our library allows you to "read off" your fine! That's especially good with the kids! Our video fines just went up from $1 to $1.25! PKM, I'm guessing $25!
We have an unlimited amount for most things we can check out and it is not uncommon for me to get 100 books at once. Fines on books are 10 cents per day and videos/cds/dvds are 50 cents a day. They used to have a max amount of fines per book and no matter how long it was gone the fine would not go over $5, they got rid of that a while back now the fine just grows and grows and I have four books that had big fines on them. I think the sting of this check I wrote is going to wake me up for a while.
OUCH! I had friend that ended up with about $25 one time and she has been extra careful! Mine ended up about $10 yesterday and I though that was bad. Our fines will only go up to $5 per item BUT, after 30 days (I think) it is considered "lost" and you have to pay full price for the item.
I think our library won't charge you more than the cost of the book. So I assume it's over $100.....? If the fine is over I think $5, they put a hold on your card. Of course, that's not going to help if you got that many books.....
OH, DEAR!!! I think my husband would take it away from me permanently! I'm surprised they didn't try to work something out with you.
Wow. That does hurt. I am really going to be careful from now on. We go to the library once or twice a week so we usually don't forget. We only live about a minute from the small library and less than five minutes from the large one in the county next to us. We live real close to the county line. It is so nice to be able to go on the spur of the moment if the girls want something.
That is one good thing about having my own job. I get to pay my bills. He knew I had fines, just not how much. This is my doing over a years time and I'm paying for it out of my own pocket so I'm not taking anything out of the house money. If I was I'm sure he would be taking the cards away from me, as it is I'm going to be punishing myself trying to make this money up. Right now we have two books at home, one is right next to me, due on the 12 and the other is due on the 20th. No fines and nothing overdue. I will be keeping better track of things from here on out.
Wow! Pkm the biggest fine I had was 2.00 I thought that was bad. I try to be very careful. I agree with Jackie I am so surprise they didn't work something out with you. A friend of ours had a book she thougth she lost it and they just put lost beside it they found it she took it back they didn't charge her anything. I would go back and talk to them before they cash the check to see if they could work something out that is big one.
They don't work with you here. I did get a $20 "forgiven" credit on one of my cards a long time ago but they only do that once a year. If something is lost and you pay full price for it and later find the book they will give you back the money minus the maximum fee amount. The area that I live in has around 20 libraries and they service the entire Charleston area, they don't cut many people breaks and you only get "forgiven" once.
I'm surprised they let it get that far. Here you eventually get turned into a collector. I'm like you, PKM, I normally have at least 100 items out. It's a mix of books, videos, and occasionally, cds. I recently found a trick that helps me not skip a book here and there when checking online. When the page comes up listing title, date checked out, due date, and times renewed, if I click on 'due date' it will list the due dates in order instead of randomly. It saves a lot of time and I don't miss a book here and there.
It was just two books that we couldn't find at the time. I was running short on time and couldn't wait any longer cause I had to get there and back so I just left them here. With our library if you have a paperback book they do not list the actual name of the book so all we have listed is 15 paperback books as being checked out. It would be so much easier if they put the title that way we would know who needs to look for the book. I never paid attention to if I could arrange the order of the books by date due. I just look at the total out and go from there. They know me by heart, I have been going to the library with my kids for over 15 years so I get to pass on some of the more forceful methods of collections. They know I homeschool so I will eventually have to pay the fines. They are big but they are little at the same times and I'm friendly with the managers at both the main branch and the local on that I always go to. Plus I do little things here and there when I'm at the library and help out a bit with certain things (for no pay).
It really depends on whether it is a city library or not. I worked for a library for 5 years(my only job ever besides working with my husband). They have to stick to things. We had a lady once who had late fines because her living room had a SUV go through it. The insurance took everything out to clean it up. When she got them back the fine was over $200.00. She tried to fight it, but still had to pay it. I think the emotions are worse than actually paying the fine. We also don't realize how much some books cost. Then a "processing fee" is tacked on top of the price. You wouldn't even believe some of the stories! We had some really wacky people!
Wow! Our library, when you go in to take books back they set a limit of books I think it's 20 per card. If you use the card and there is fine any kind of fine they refuse to let you check out more books. Until the fine is paid,that is what I don't get about your Library PKM if you were going back checking out more books how come they never said anything to you?
It honestly don't take much Kris, if you got 100 books all due at the same time and they are 10 cents each and you are late by one day that is $10 right there and if you are late by more than a few days, like me it adds up amazingly fast. 2006 was without a doubt a pretty horrible year for me so I'm not very surprised that it was that high. I know it will be better this year, things are much more under control this year.
