[Publib] Loan rules
Lise Chlebanowski
lchlebanowski at avondale.org
Wed Apr 29 12:46:59 EDT 2009
We also limit DVD checkout to five per card, but we circulate them for one week and they are not renewable. We strive to have a good browsing collection when people come to look for films and I wonder why someone would have to renew a two-hour movie four times!
Lisë Chlebanowski
Library Manager
Sam Garcia Western Avenue Library
495 E. Western Ave.
Avondale, AZ 85323
623-333-2611 D
623-333-0260 F
lchlebanowski at avondale.org
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-----Original Message-----
From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:publib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Martha Grenzeback
Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 8:48 PM
To: Carl Long
Cc: publib at webjunction.org
Subject: Re: [Publib] Loan rules
At Omaha Public Library we started limiting DVD check-outs to five per card (plus two more multiple-disc DVDs) after a few spectacular thefts (DVDs being sold on e-bay). Before, you could have out up to 40 at a time (which is our total item limit), so by the time we realized there was a problem, we'd lost 40 DVDs. The check-out period for DVDs is two weeks, renewable up to four times if no one has a hold on it--some of the very popular DVDs have long waiting lists, so limiting to two weeks helps keep the line moving. This seems to be working well, and not too many people complain (no special limits on videos, which we are phasing out anyway).
Martha Grenzeback
Circulation Clerk
Omaha Public Library
At 08:50 AM 4/28/2009, Carl Long wrote:
>Mary,
>
>But what if theft was a major problem for you, what would you suggest?
>Would you still suggest larger limits or sticking to tighter limits? Or
>some other option?
>
>Best Regards,
>Mr. Carl William Long, M.L.S. (http://carlwilliamlong.googlepages.com)
>Reference Librarian II (Email: carl.long at reading.lib.pa.us
><mailto:carl.long at reading.lib.pa.us>)
>Reading Public Library (http://www.reading.lib.pa.us) Reading,
>Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
>
>
>Mary Soucie wrote:
>>We don't have a major problem with theft. We do get the occasional
>>person that doesn't return materials. Our DVDs and CDs are kept in a
>>locked case and patrons ask at the desk to have the cabinets unlocked.
>>We just started checking out video games. We keep those in an office,
>>with the case on the shelf. We are limiting those right now because we
>>only have less than a handful of games. As the collections grows, we
>>won't limit those. They follow the same rules as other AV: one week,
>>no renewal. (forgot about the games when I posted before that we don't
>>limit.)
>>
>>Mary Soucie
>>
>>On Tue, Apr 28, 2009 at 8:07 AM, Carl Long
>><carl.long at reading.lib.pa.us <mailto:carl.long at reading.lib.pa.us>> wrote:
>>
>> What about theft issues? We have major problems now with theft and
>> we limit to 5 of each media type. We would get zapped with someone
>> signing out 50 DVDs and never bringing any of them back. At least
>> as our policy stands now, once someone steals those 5 items we can
>> block them from further theft. Thoughts?
>>
>> Best Regards,
>> Mr. Carl William Long, M.L.S. (http://carlwilliamlong.googlepages.com)
>> Reference Librarian II (Email: carl.long at reading.lib.pa.us
>> <mailto:carl.long at reading.lib.pa.us>)
>> Reading Public Library (http://www.reading.lib.pa.us)
>> Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
>>
>> Tom Cooper wrote:
>>
>> I think most of these rules -- shorter checkouts, higher
>> fines, limited
>> checkouts -- originated when videocassettes and then DVDs were
>> a limited
>> commodity. As our collections grew, we forgot the rationale
>> behind these
>> restrictions, and held onto the mindset that these media were
>> special
>> and required special rules. They don't. Let people check out
>> what they
>> want and keep them as long as print items. Good customer
>> relations, high
>> circulation, room on the shelves -- win win win.
>> Tom Cooper, Director
>> Webster Groves Public Library
>> 301 E. Lockwood
>> Webster Groves, MO 63119
>>
>> (314) 961-3784
>> tcooper at wgpl.org <mailto:tcooper at wgpl.org>
>>
>> Do not judge beliefs by their plausibility, but by the harm
>> they may do.
>> Nassim Nicholas
>> Taleb
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org
>> <mailto:publib-bounces at webjunction.org>
>> [mailto:publib-bounces at webjunction.org
>> <mailto:publib-bounces at webjunction.org>] On Behalf Of kathy
>> Berggren
>> Sent: Monday, April 27, 2009 1:53 PM
>> To: publib at webjunction.org <mailto:publib at webjunction.org>
>> Subject: [Publib] Loan rules
>>
>> Help me out here folks -- brainstorming time. I'm currently
>> at war with
>> one
>> of my department heads over limits on the number of AV items
>> that can be
>> checked out at one time. His argument is that it is not good
>> customer
>> service to have empty shelves. When patrons come in to check
>> out a
>> currently released DVD, they don't want to have to wait a
>> month to get
>> it.
>> Therefore, we should limit patrons to 3-4 DVDs at one time,
>> particularly
>> for
>> the newer titles.
>>
>> My argument is two-fold. I eliminated shorter checkout times
>> a couple
>> of
>> years ago because I had issues with AV items having shorter
>> checkout
>> times
>> and higher fines than printed material when most of the printed
>> materials
>> cost more. The same holds true for me on this issue. If I
>> don't limit
>> the
>> number of books you can check out, whether they are new or
>> not, why
>> would I
>> limit the number of AV items? And secondly, why am I limiting the
>> number of
>> items a patron can checkout if I am so out of shelving space
>> that I'm
>> constantly weeding?
>>
>> Your thoughts please.
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>>--
>>Have a great day!
>>
>>Mary
>
>
>
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