Here are the compiled responses to the question of receiving donations to target patrons in most need of fine forgiveness. Thanks to everyone for your thoughts! Deborah Haak Accounts Technician Three Rivers Public Library Three Rivers, MI FINE FORGIVENESS RESPONSES 12 - 2018 NADL had a patron donate $20 dollars last month with the request it be used to pay children's fines so that they may continue to check out books. My staff suggested young patrons names, and I followed up with the guardians to be sure paying the fines off was okay with them. (One parent teaches responsibility to her child by requiring her to make good on her fines. I suggested she allow the fines to be paid with the donor's gift, and explain to her daughter why her fine was paid and to require her daughter to "pay it forward" for someone else--teaching the value of giving!) The mother was thrilled with the idea. A note was placed in each patron's account explaining the fine was paid by an anonymous person. I also kept a receipt of each fine paid along with documentation of the donation received and filed them together with other patron transactions. Kelly Tinkham, Director Newaygo Area District Library 44 N State Road Newaygo, MI 49337 231-652-6723 I was curious too how you would identify these people, avoid giving their names to the donor, and make sure to not make a judgement call in selecting them. If your circ. system allows for block notes on borrower records that would be a way to notify the borrower (An anonymous donor paid your fines in the amount of $....). I'm looking forward to what you find out from others. Stephanie PS. I still think about Three Rivers Library with fond memories (worked there for 11 years up until December 1996). Our library used to have a Food For Fines program. For one week prior to Thanksgiving patrons could bring in non perishable food or hygiene items. For every item donated we would forgive $1.00 of fines. It helped low income patrons pay off large fines easier because they could purchase items cheaper than $1.00. Patrons with no fines would often donate as well. Our branches would give the food to a local food pantry. Jami Cromley Director Community District Library www.mycdl.org <http://www.mycdl.org> 989.743.3287 We had a situation like that. A person who always paid much, much more for his copies than he owed. Picture owing .70 and giving us $5! This happened throughout the year. I applied that to some fines owed by a family and I knew they were struggling. The next time they came in, I simply said that a donation had been made to pay fines for others and theirs had been taken care of. ------ Phyllis Rickard Director North Adams Community Memorial Library (zv245) 110 E. Main St., PO Box 248 North Adams, MI 49262 517-287-4426 northadamslibrary@gmail.com <mailto:northadamslibrary@gmail.com> http://www.northadamscml.michlibrary.org/ We do a Fine Forgiveness Day in January as a way for patrons to start the new year out right. Then we also do one in June so Patrons can be fine clear for the summer reading program. We do not forgive collection fees or lost book fee. Diane Willick <dwillick@ruthhughes.org> ORIGINAL QUERY: From: Deborah Haak [mailto:dhaak@threeriverslibrary.org] Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2018 9:31 AM To: michlib-l@mcls.org Subject: [Michlib-l] Fine forgiveness question Hi all, I was talking with a patron the other week who was wondering if there is a way that she might be able to pay off the fines of other patrons, and particularly those in need. I know that she could give an anonymous donation to "pay it forward" for the next however-many patrons come after her. But, she was wondering if there was some way that we could identify patrons with the most need, who might benefit the most from having their fines removed. The front desk clerks have somewhat of an idea of which patrons are in need, and we can run reports to see who has fines, but I'm not sure how we would go about selecting patrons (and notifying them). Has anyone out there used any sort of "scholarship" or "lottery" or something that we could replicate? If you respond off-list, I can compile responses. Thank you for all your work! Deborah Haak Accounts Technician Three Rivers Public Library Three Rivers, MI
