Central Service Desk Assistant Guide

Bills are costs for items that were not returned or damaged by a user, assigned to the user’s account by the owning library’s circulation staff.   

If you click on the dollar amount to the right of 'Active balance' in the user record, bills for replacement costs are listed as “Lost item replacement fee.” Bills for associated costs are listed as “Lost item process fee.” 

Fines are late fees for items that were returned after the due date.  Fines are automatically assigned to user accounts upon return of overdue items.  

Fines are listed as “Overdue fine,” and "Recalled Overdue fine.” 

Many Heard Library items no longer have fines.  All items are eligible for bills when they are severely overdue.

1. Go to Fulfillment->Manage Patron Service.
2. Swipe the user’s Vanderbilt ID or look up the user by name.
3. Click on the ID (VUNet) which will bring up the "User Details" screen. Click on the "FInes/Fees" tab. From the drop down menu, change status to "All" to view fine history. 

All past fines or bills associated with the account will appear. Bills or fines that have been paid, forgiven, or sent to Student Accounts will have “$0.00” in the Remaining balance column. Those charges that have been credited will have a negative dollar amount. 

• Only supervisors are authorized to waive bills or fines.  Notify a supervisor if you believe a bill or fine to be in error.  Refer fine disputes to your circulation supervisor.
• Notify your circulation supervisor before paying bills or fines from other campus libraries. 

Student bills and fines will eventually be transferred to Student Accounts, so students rarely choose to pay these amounts at the library.  Bills and fines for all other users stay on their account until paid or waived. 

Late/Recall fines can only be paid after the item has been returned. 

1. Go to Fulfillment->Manage Patron Service.
2. Swipe the user’s Vanderbilt ID or look up the user by name.
3. Click on the 'Pay' button next to the dollar amount to the right of 'Active balance' in the User Record.
4. If the User wishes to settle their entire account or just wishes to make a general payment on their account, choose 'All fines.' If they wish to pay for specific items or fees, choose 'Specific fines' and select the specific items from the list. You will want to choose specific fines if there are any items on the account in dispute or they believe they may be able to locate: refer further questions to a supervisor.
5. Specify whether payment was made by CASH or CHECK.
6. Click on 'Send' at the bottom of the window.

All income must be recorded on the Daily Income Log Sheet at the end of the transaction.  Immediately endorse any checks with the appropriate stamp.