<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">Our LOT is relatively compact, so returns and condition of returns hasn't been a huge problem--EXCEPT for our hot spots and Chromebooks, which are constantly out and on hold, and overdue from the same people.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">Staff complains a lot,but we haven't implemented any real changes--except to buy more hotspots, which also instantly go out for extended times. Is yours largely tech items that go overdue?</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Fri, Sep 5, 2025 at 4:08 PM Wendy Chapman via Michlib-l <<a href="mailto:michlib-l@mcls.org">michlib-l@mcls.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif">Hello all,</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif">We've had a Library of Things here for five years now. I have spent the three years that I have been here tweaking the policy with our director as situations have dictated and find myself once again at a crossroads of what to do. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif">We have a continuing issue of patrons returning items from the collection late. Our current policy dictates that a patron may lose their privilege to check out items from the LoT once they have been late three times. I give grace the first time they are late, so they really get four chances before we consider removing their privileges. We do not specify within what timeframe those three late occurrences happen. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif">So, as an example, we could have a patron that was late three times in 2022 and has been a model patron since then, but if they are late again this month they would lose their privilege per policy. Also, as a fine free library we really do not want to add a monetary penalty to the policy. We do send the patron to collections for the value of the item when it has been missing for a certain amount of time. In extreme cases, when the collections action has not produced the item we do make police reports.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif">Any thoughts out there as to how to modify the policy to make the repercussions more apparent? What has worked for your libraries? Or didn't work? </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif">Many thanks in advance!</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif">Wendy</div><br clear="all"></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif" size="4">Wendy L. Chapman</font><div><span style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif"><font size="4">LoT & Seed Library Coordinator</font></span><div><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">Buchanan District Library</font></div><div><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">269.695.3681 Ext. 16</font></div><div><i><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans MT",sans-serif"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.buchananlibrary.org" target="_blank"><font color="#000000">www.buchananlibrary.org</font></a></font></span></i></div><div><img width="91" height="96" src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/mail-sig/AIorK4xPJqiLkOPuIDitKgTEBlAC9HMYXCQi2cvOPTL8evBpUFtTAC7xV0T-3KBDQDAcO7XI76aziT0FD3Mu"><i><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans MT",sans-serif"><img width="94" height="96" src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/mail-sig/AIorK4xeU-jGOG-F5L0BCNv5AKNhiMbJI68yUGmA_jIU2vqmba2gRcZkty_YkyGY5BWOHIYI3eBqiQ_P2Svh"><br></span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans MT",sans-serif"><br></span></i></div><div><p></p></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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</blockquote></div><div><br clear="all"></div><div><br></div><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr">Jean Fellows</div><div dir="ltr"><div>Programming Coordinator</div><div>Grand Ledge Area District Library</div><div>131 E. Jefferson St.,</div><div>Grand Ledge, MI 48837</div><div>517-627-7014<br></div><div><img src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/mail-sig/AIorK4zxoTGVxEzJ7sLZC1N3LUx7Oyedbsa95VGh2c5dFE0hmwV6wSu1Vtp3-xu8_L36HE4wag_LwtI" width="89" height="96"><br></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black">
</span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black"> <b>MelCat & Mel Are at Risk!</b>
</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(34,34,34)"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial"><a href="http://saveimls.org/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(17,85,204)">saveimls.org</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(34,34,34)"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:15pt 0in;line-height:normal;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black">A federal Executive Order may cut <i>all funding</i> for
these essential library services by Sept 2025.</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(34,34,34)"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:15pt 0in;line-height:normal;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black">
</span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black"> MelCat = 34 million items from 435 MI
libraries<br>
Mel = free eBooks, magazines, research tools & more<br>
Small libraries like GLADL <i>depend</i> on
them!</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(34,34,34)"></span></p></div></div></div></div>