Severely overdue library items will appear on an “Overdue Item to be Billed” report at the times specified in the table below. Overdue recalled items will appear on a “Timetobill” report.
|
Format |
Days overdue |
|
General collection items |
55 |
|
Reserves |
15 |
|
Recalled items |
23 |
Each library has its own time frame on when to actually bill for an item.
The listing of an item in the “Overdue Item to be Billed” report is the last notification through daily reports to circulation staff that an item is severely overdue. If the circulation staff member chooses not to bill at that time, they are responsible for keeping a record and monitoring the future status of items which have appeared on the report.
Significantly damaged items can be immediately billed. Users who return damaged items can be billed for complete costs (current replacement cost + $35 cataloging fee + $25 billing fee) or for rebinding costs ($10).
Billing fees usually serve as “catch all” fees and are almost always non-refundable. For items that do not have overdue fines, the bill serves as a reminder to return items within a reasonable amount of time. They also are meant to cover the time staff members actually spend on billing (contacting users, modifying records, filling out paperwork for Student Accounts, etc.). Lastly, they can also be used to cover costs when binding replacements. Current practice is to waive billing fees for items lost when borrowed through ILL (See How to Bill ILL).
