[ILL-L] OVERDUE BOOKS

Mon Apr 20 07:51:29 EDT 2009

We don't charge other libraries overdue fines, of course, and we send an invoice if the book was taken out more than three months ago and is overdue. We have the ILL books in our local catalog system so we couldn have them send overdue notices, but we rely on the OCLC overdue file for that.

If a library loses a book we'll take payment or a replacement, if they don't do either, which hasn't happened, we would suspend their ILL privileges until they did.

Ed Helmrich
Iona College

________________________________

From: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org on behalf of ILL_PSC ILL_PSC
Sent: Sun 4/19/2009 8:43 PM
To: ill-l at webjunction.org
Subject: Re: [ILL-L] OVERDUE BOOKS

Dear Stephen,

La Salle University Library -- that takes me back! You guys were my first out-of-state reciprocal agreement back in the days of dot matrix printers, OCLC via Telnet, and connection charges per minute! Thanks so much!

Disclaimer: We are a small library, and our ILL volume is low. In 19 years on the lending side, the only books that never came back were lost by the patron and paid for. As a borrowing library, I've only had to pay for two ILL books: one was damaged and one was claimed returned by the PFH (Patron >From H at ll). I probably should have paid for one more book. It was discovered lying in the back of a closet in the Maintenance Building five years after it was marked shipped out (mid 1990s). When Maintenance found it five years later and returned it to the Library, we repackaged it with a letter of apology and re-shipped it to the lender. They never replied.

My questions are:
1.  How and how often are you sending overdue notices?
2.  How many overdue notices do you send before you invoice?
3.  Are you invoicing them for the item and when do you do it? Our system declares a book lost when the overdue fee caps at $25. ILL overdues are $.50  a day, so the book is declared lost by the system at Day 50 and a report is issued by circulation. I am supposed to have an invoice is issued by our acquisitions librarian then. I try hard not to let it get to this stage.
4.  Once you've invoiced them, how long do you wait before you send a second and a third invoice?
5.  Are they responding to your invoices, but then not paying or not returning the books?
6.  If there is no response to any of these invoices, what are the consequences -- a letter of complaint, a notification of loss of ILL loan privileges, what?

Up front, I want to say that I think everyone's goal is to get the book back. No lender wants to go through the hassle of invoicing, receiving payment, reordering and reprocessing a book. We all want our books back with as little effort and as quickly as possible. No borrower wants to go through the hassle of notifying patrons, receiving invoices, cutting checks, and apologizing for not returning books. We all want our patrons to return things on time, ask for renewals when necessary, and basically make our work lives easier, but...

Sometimes things fall through the cracks, and sometimes there is a systemic problem.

I suspect the increase in overdue ILLs is due to decreased staffing and budget cuts. Or it may be that they've changed their ILL procedures and overdues have fallen though the cracks.

What we do:

My director is big on responsibility and meeting deadlines. She expects our students to return all items on time.  If not, they pay overdues. This means she especially expects our ILL patrons to be just as prompt in returning books and she expects me (as the ILL librarian) to be even more responsible in returning books on time. She thinks it's a mark of professionalism for our library to return ILLs on time. She thinks the fact that we are librarians and that it is our job gives us fewer excuses for returning ILLs late and for not requesting renewals. Patrons may be ignorant, but we know better.

We tend to cut public libraries more slack than academic libraries because academic libraries can restrict library accounts, seal grades, and/or bill student accounts, so they tend to have more power over patrons. We also tend to cut larger libraries more slack than smaller libraries. We figure a larger volume of requests leads to more slippage. Larger academic libraries also tend to depend more on student workers -- I can't tell you how many times I've heard "I'm sorry, but my student worker did it."

We use several tactics to get books back from borrowing libraries. We e-mail twice (one-week overdue and two-weeks overdue), reminding them the item is overdue and asking if they need a renewal, and then call (a couple of days after the second e-mail). Three strikes and you're out.

If the borrowing library responds and asks for a renewal, we will renew it as long as the patron hasn't had it for more than six weeks. (Again my director feels that we only allow our students six weeks maximum to use a book and they pay a library fee, so it's not fair to them to allow another library's patron even longer. As for faculty at other institutions, the reasoning is that they may be faculty, but they are not OUR faculty. If they came to our library and checked out a book, they would have the same due date as town patron, not a faculty member.)

If the borrower tells us there's a problem with the patron refusing to return books, we offer to  invoice the patron for replacement cost plus $20 processing fee plus $.50 per day overdue fee and offer to drop all charges and fees if book is returned. We also renew the book and give them two weeks to a month to resolve the problem. Then we e-mail/call periodically to check on the situation. We try not to nag. We just ask for an update but also make sure they haven't forgotten about the book. The reminders go out every two weeks or once month depending on how close it is to the end of the semester and how many times in the past that borrower has had overdue items. We don't let it go beyond the end of the semester if at all possible.

Frankly, the patron invoice usually gets books back. Patrons may think nothing of paying for a book, but they hate the processing and overdue fees, so they usually bring it back, especially when it means they get out of the overdue fees.

If the library reports that they are unable to get the book back, we invoice them for the replacement cost plus the processing fee, and we do it fairly quickly. We never invoice a library for overdue fees, just the patron.  The longer you wait to invoice, the easier it is for the book/invoice to fall through the cracks because the student has left school or ILL staff have changed. So far, no one who has requested an invoice has failed to pay it.

I think receiving an invoice for a lost ILL book tends to make library administration seriously consider the idea of pressuring patrons to return books. Our acquisitions librarian handles all monies. She doesn't like to pay for anything the student is responsible for. My director is the one who has to enter all overdue fees and replacement costs in the students' online billing account, so she is also aware of any glitches/problems in ILL.

Believe me, I don't want to involve Acquisitions or the director if I don't have to. When I do, I document what I've done to show I've tried my best to resolve the matter without them. That's why complaining to the director of the borrowing library is often the best bet for intractable problems. You just need to make sure you've given them the chance to solve the problem themselves -- and document that they didn't solve the problem or return/pay for the book -- before you go up the chain of command.

If the borrowing library DOESN'T RESPOND AT ALL to my e-mails (each e-mail includes a copy of the previous e-mail) and call, I usually write a letter of complaint detailing:  the situation, what I've done, and what the borrower has not done. I usually include an invoice and copies of the e-mails. The very first paragraph is a single sentence: "This is a letter of complaint." The letter goes to the listed department contact. If that doesn't work (i.e., doesn't get someone to respond to me), I send the matter to my director with a copy of my letter of complaint and the contact information of the director of the borrowing library. She will e-mail, write, call, or, once at a professional meeting, talk to the other director personally. She gets results.

It rarely goes this far. In 19 years, the only books that never came back were lost by the patron and paid for. We did cut off two libraries from borrowing privileges for a year: one because 50% of all loans for about five years were returned late and required multiple notices to get them back and one because they never responded to any of my notices. The longest overdue eventually came home after a mail search.

A list member once e-mailed me privately that she thought I was wrapped too tight because of my tough stance on the overdue ILL issue. I don't think I am. I once had another ILL librarian tell me she didn't respond to my reminders and she never asked for a renewal if her patron hadn't requested one.

As a lender, I try to lend everything I possibly can.  I want to share our collection with anyone who can use it. As a borrower, I take a lot of pride in getting my patrons what they need, but I ride them hard about due dates. As a borrowing library,  I request renewals for items that I am having trouble getting back from students. I e-mail the patrons and ask if they need a renewal. If they don't reply, I go ahead and ask for the renewal. The students, because they didn't request the renewal themselves, are charged with overdue fees until either they request the renewal or they return the book. AND when the renewals run out or are refused and the book still hasn't been returned, I contact the lender and explain the problem, so they don't have to waste time and energy sending me overdue notices and invoices. I also periodically send the updates of what I am doing to get their book back. As I said before, I've only had one that I couldn't get back from the patron -- even though I took it to the Dean of Academic Affairs and the college Business Office.

Good Luck!
Linda (probably wrapped too tight, but with a pretty good returned-on-time record)

Linda Celet Bane
Interlibrary Loan (PWS/PWSA)
Mary F. Shipper Library/LRC
Potomac State College of WVU
Keyser, WV  26726-2697
phone: (304)788-6903
fax: (304)788-6946
Ariel: 157.182.165.30, PSC_Ariel at mail.wvu.edu
E-mail: ILL_PSC at mail.wvu.edu

>>> "Breedlove, W Stephen" <breedlov at lasalle.edu> Friday, April 17, 2009 4:11 PM >>>

Dear List,

>From my experience for the last few years, there appears to be an epidemic of overdue books in interlibrary loan land--not just a couple of weeks overdue--but months and years overdue.  After a recall in OCLC, an email reminder, an invoice, then another invoice after a few months, and maybe another invoice in another few months--and still no book or check for replacement charges--What is the next best approach?  (We will accept a brand new copy of the book in lieue of payment of an invoice.)  Several libraries have books borrowed from us that are two or more years overdue.  Keep in mind that these initial invoices have been sent to the person in charge to whom I have been instructed that invoices be sent.  Should I send another iinvoice to the director of the library and hope this gets some results?  Wishful thinking?  We have stopped lending to a few of these offending libraries.  But what does it take to get a response? 

Currently, we have approximately 40 books that are overdue for three months to several years.  This seems a lot to me, but I have no idea how this compares to other libraries' overdue load.  We have been a very large net lender for years, but because of budget restrictions we have drastically cut back on our lending in order to reduce shipping costs.  Not lending to the big offending libraries gives us one criterion to use to reduce costs.

How do you get libraries to pay your invoices for replacement costs if they cannot return the books?  It seems unethical to just let it go.  >From our end we try to return books on time.  If we cannot return the book, we pay the lending library's invoice.

Any thoughts on this?

W. Stephen Breedlove, MLS, MA
Reference Lbirarian/Interlibrary Loan Coordinator
La Salle Universty Library
breedlov at lasalle.edu
215-951-1862

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