1. General policy: • Items owned or interloaned by the Parchment Community Library may be checked out only by card-holders in good standing. (See also Membership Policy) 2. Loan periods: Books - 4 weeks New Fiction - 2 weeks Holiday books - 1 week Movies ( Video and/or DVD) - 7 days, limit 4 per household Adult audiobooks (cassette and/or CD) - 2 weeks, limit 6 per household J cassettes and book/ cass . - 4 weeks, limit 10 Compact discs (Music) - 2 weeks, limit 6 per household Magazines - 1 week, limit 15 Reference items - do not circulate A/V equipment - see Section 5
All items may be renewed once with the exception of movies, audio-visual equipment and reserved items. 4. Movies: Videocassettes, DVDs, and audio-visual equipment may be checked out by card-holders in good standing who are 18 years of age or older. A valid picture identification may be requested at the discretion of the staff. Juvenile cards may not be used to check out movies or AV equipment. 5 . Audio-visual equipment: ITEM LOAN PD. FEE LATE FEE -------------------------------------------------------- Slide projector 3 days $1.00 $1.00 per day Overhead projector 3 days $1.00 $1.00 per day The fee collected for most audio-visual equipment is used to replace projector bulbs and to provide for other routine maintenance.
Library card-holders are welcome to place their names on a reserve list for any items owned by the library. When a reserved item is available, library staff will contact the patron by phone. If the requester cannot be contacted after two attempts, the item will go to the next person on the list; and the requester will be placed at the end the list. After the requester has been contacted, the reserved item will remain on the hold shelf for three days, after which a second phone call will be made. Two days after the second phone call, the requester's name will be taken off the list and the item will go on to the next requester. Inter-loan materials are held on the reserve shelf. We will make several efforts to reach the requester by phone. If the item is not picked up by its due date, it is returned to the lending library. If postage costs have been incurred, the requestor is responsible for paying them, whether or not he picked up the item. 7. Overdue items: General policy: The aim of overdue fines is not to bring in a large amount of revenue, but rather to bring library materials back as soon as possible for use by others. The fines are set at a level which will provide an incentive for users to bring back materials before costly overdue notices are sent. Fines: The fine for all library materials, excepting videocassettes and DVDs, is ten cents per library business day. The fine for videocassettes and DVDs is $1.00 per library business day. The maximum fine for all library materials is $5.00 per item. Grace Period: There is a 7-day grace period for most library materials. There is a 1-day grace period for videocassettes and DVDs. No fine will be assessed if the item is returned within the grace period. Suspension: Borrowing privileges are suspended if fines in the amount of more than $2.00 accumulate or if there are overdue items for which statements have been sent. Overdue Procedure: The following procedures shall be followed when an item is determined to be overdue: • A list of overdue videocassettes and DVDs is run each day and card-holders are called. • The first overdue notice will be mailed when an item is 2 weeks overdue. If the item is not returned, a second overdue notice will be mailed when the item is 4 weeks overdue. [Please see Appendix A: Final Notice] • If the item cannot be found, the replacement cost of the item (as stated in the automated catalog), plus a $5.00 processing fee, must be paid. • If the item is not returned (or the replacement cost & processing fee paid) within 14 days of the second notice, the overdue account may be sent to a collection agency. • If sent to a collection agency, the overdue account will be assessed an additional $10 fee. 8. Lost items: If the item cannot be found, the patron must pay the replacement cost of the item as stated in the automated catalog. A $5.00 processing fee will also be charged for each lost item. If the lost and paid item is found and returned in good condition within 6 months, the patron will be refunded the cost of the item less any overdue fine. The $5.00 processing fee will not be refunded.
Any damage to library materials which occurs during the loan period is the responsibility of the borrower. Damaged items should be reported to the staff member assigned to circulation desk duty at the time of the return. If the item cannot be repaired satisfactorily, the card-holder will then be charged the replacement cost of the item. Borrowing privileges will be suspended until the damage is paid for if it is more than $2.00. It is the aim of this procedure to clarify the matter while the card-holder is still in the building. Appeals of such decisions by the card-holder may be made to the Library Director. If the item is found in the book return, an attempt is made to contact the card-holder by telephone and relay the damage charge. If the patron cannot be reached by telephone, a bill for damages is sent by mail.
When a card-holder disputes an overdue notice by claiming the item was never checked out or that it was already returned, the following procedure is followed: • Six weeks will be allowed for the item to be located. During this time, the card-holder is asked to search for the item. The library staff will check the shelves weekly for the item.
Any book not owned by the Parchment Community Library may be obtained in one of the following ways: Interlibrary Loan : A request card will be made out for a particular title, author, or subject area and will be searched on the Southwest Michigan Library Cooperative data base. If the item is found on the data base, it will be requested directly from the holding library. If it is not found, the request will be submitted to the cooperative's Interlibrary Loan Office. The library cannot guarantee the requested item will be found or loaned. Items obtained are subject to normal borrowing rules as well as to loan periods and other restrictions set by the lending library. The library does not assess a fee for placing an interloan request. Most interloan requests are obtained from libraries within the southwest Michigan region and are delivered free of charge. If a requested item cannot be found within our free delivery region, we have the option of searching more distant libraries. In general, we do not charge postage fees, but reserve the right to do so in the case of unusually high postage costs. Reciprocal Borrowing : Library card-holders in good standing may be eligible for a reciprocal borrowing card at the Kalamazoo Public Library, Portage Library, or for a MichiCard good at many libraries throughout the state. Courtesy Pass: Courtesy Passes are available for area libraries which do not honor MichiCard . Ask the library director for more information.
Board of Trustees Approved Policy Revisions: Revised December 13, 1988 Revised December 11, 1990 Revised May 10, 1994 Revised March 14, 2000 Revised May 9, 2000 Revised February 11, 2003 Revised April 27, 2004 |