Overdue Penalty Points

For Fall, 2018, we are trying a new procedure where circ and ILL staff will manually block patrons with overdue items and contact them individually. Patrons will need to speak with a supervisor to remove the block on their account.

What is it?

Overdue Penalty Points will accumulate on a patron’s record when reserves, equipment, or inter-library loan materials become overdue. For hourly loans, the points will accrue at a rate of one point per hour overdue, per item. For daily loans, the points will accrue at a rate of one point per day overdue, per item.

When a patron’s account accumulates three points, borrowing privileges will be blocked for ALL LIBRARY MATERIALS for a period of one day. If they have accrued six points, they will be blocked for two days, and so on.

Scenarios:

2 reserve items overdue by 2 hours = 4 points (blocked for one day)

1 piece of equipment 3 days overdue = 3 points (blocked for one day)

3 interlibrary loan books 7 days overdue = 21 points (blocked for seven days)

Why are we doing this?

In the past, there has not been a consequence to keeping these items out past their due date or time. This meant that one person could prevent an entire class from having access to a reserve reading without a penalty of any kind. We think it makes more sense to have one person blocked from borrowing than to have an entire class blocked from using reserve materials. In the circulation survey we conducted this Spring, 77% of students said no to fines. Penalty points being used as an alternative to fines was favored 2 to 1.

What items are affected?

All reserve items, any piece of equipment (headphones, camcorders, LCDs, chargers, etc.), and items borrowed via ILL (green band).

What can I do?

Return your items before they are due. If you do that, you don’t have to worry about any of this. Any questions about this policy can be directed to library_circulation@middlebury.edu