Library district inches toward user fees

Fort Vancouver Regional Library District officials declined Monday to establish a fine for patrons caught being a bit tardy.

But the issue of overdue fines and other new charges will be discussed during a retreat session, set for April 11-12 at the Cascade Park Community Library.

The fee under consideration Monday would have been imposed for items placed on hold for pickup at a customer’s convenience, then left unclaimed for at least 10 days.

For now, the items will simply be restocked without penalty, as per current policy. A September inventory found that less than 12 percent of items go unclaimed that long, not a large enough headache for most patrons to merit a change, the seven-member board agreed.

“We would have a great big negative effect if we instituted a fine for holds,” said board member Jane Higgins during the meeting at Three Creeks Community Library. She said sometimes patrons don’t have control over when they can pick up holds. For instance, she said if they are number 37 in the queue, they don’t know if that is weeks or months away.

However, the days when FVRL operates without any fines or fees, such as overdue charges, may soon be numbered.

That’s thanks to a comprehensive Internet time management, print management and online payment system, due this summer.

Lack of fines has long set the 13-branch library district apart from its peer systems that do collect them.

FVRL leaders have taken pride in being “user-friendly.” They’ve been reluctant to anger or upset patrons in a fashion that could drive down library use and access. They’ve cited administrative burden and backlash against employees who would collect such fines.

One of the “con” arguments listed in a board subcommittee and staff report on held-item fines is that FVRL could be seen as “nickel-and-diming our patrons,” for minimal benefit.

“We can crank up a PR campaign” to encourage more speedy pickup of items in heavy demand, said Bruce Ziegman, FVRL executive director. Faster turnover is the district’s goal, not modest new revenue projected from such a fine, he said.

But there’s much bigger money to be gleaned from overdue fines — between $175,000 and $350,000 per year, according to FVRL estimates from autumn 2009, when a large online opinion survey of patrons was analyzed.

Overdue fines are seen as perhaps the best weapon to motivate patrons to return items in a timely fashion, Ziegman said.

“That’s really the one that’s most meaningful in terms of revenue, and (effect) on users,” he said. FVRL previously found about 1 in 4 overdue items was at least 21 days overdue: In other words, out of circulation a full six weeks.

Now comes a new, integrated Internet use and printing-and-payment system expected to go live by July, the same time as the sparkling downtown Vancouver Community Library building opens its doors.

Completion of the two-and-a-half year, $120,000 data management project would grease the way for electronic billing and payment, eliminating much of the fuss posed by fine collections.

Ziegman expects the FVRL board to seriously address overdue fines and other new charges during the retreat.

The latter could include a fee for books by mail, Ziegman said. Two years ago, FVRL chose to restrict the popular mail service only to homebound residents and those patrons who live more than 10 miles from a branch library; it declined to impose a $4-per-item charge.

Even so, the user limits have reduced mail deliveries by about 95 percent, Ziegman said.

Printing, rental fees

Two other policy changes were adopted Monday by the FVRL board:

o FVRL will see that the current 10-cent per-page fee for printing or photocopies, beyond an initial 10 free pages per visit, is equally imposed. That’s whether patrons use coin-operated copy machines or library computers to access electronic databases and other files.

There’s concern patrons have used the library’s Electronic Resource and Catalog computers to print far more free copies than allowed, Ziegman said. The new print management and payment system will connect all copiers and printers and allow for complete tracking, he said.

o FVRL will establish, for a two-year trial period, rules to govern private rental of the Columbia Room inside the new, downtown Vancouver library.