[Publib] "stolen" library books

[Dale McNeill]

As others have said, the tone really is what matters.  Each customer
deserves to be treated with the utmost respect.  In those cases where this
is true, the customer has gone through a very traumatic event.

However, in most jobs I've had the library was not an independent
organization.  It was part of a local jurisdiction (city or county) with
controllers, auditors, and all the rest.  We kept a very detailed record of
each and every fine waived, with documentation when the entire amount was
waived.  I would explain to the customer that we had to have records for
auditors.  I treated each with sympathy and respect--and that's very
important.

More than half provided the documentation.  I learned early on that's it's
not fair to go by "gut feelings".  After all, those who are accomplished at
deceit are often better with their stories than are the people who have just
gone through a terrible situation.  For sure, when I lived and worked in a
small town, the police report was in the newspaper every day and we knew our
customers by sight--so, no police reports were needed!  In a city with
hundreds of thousands of people or millions of people, that just doesn't
work.

Dale

(from a tiny town in Oklahoma to a big city in New York)


On 1/17/08, Elizabeth Rogers <rogers at cefls.org> wrote:
>
> I'm really surprised at the tone of these responses.  It would never
> occur to me to ask for a police report, and I wouldn't think it would do
> much for public relations. Whenever a patron of ours has ANY sort of
> mishap, disaster, etc., we want library books to be the last thing they
> worry about.  We want them to think of libraries as places where they're
> welcome and not punished for things they have no control over.  If the
> patron's house burns down, do you require a sworn statement from a
> fireman?  I see having your car stolen as a traumatic event, and
> demanding to see a police report compounds the trauma by suggesting that
> the patron is dishonest.   This doesn't mean we don't take the financial
> support of our taxpayers seriously, it just means we take our patrons'
> needs seriously as well.  After all--they're taxpayers too, for the most
> part.
>
> Elizabeth Rogers
> CEF Library System
> 33 Oak Street
> Plattsburgh, NY  12901
>
>
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