Comments on: Economic Downturn Creates Budget Shortfalls

By: Sam Harnish

Sam Harnish — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:40:05 +0000

I agree with Mr. Perry’s comments. I have a book I returned on time and have already been fined $2 because it is lost in the system and I have been deemed late. I renewed it even though I turned it in just so I coud stop the late charges. Although I have been promised a search is being done, meantime the book is still on my account and I have had to renew a second time. If the library says it is lost I wil lbuy a new one but hopefully the fine will go to the replacement cost. Thanks for the opportunity to express my concern.

By: Kathy Bonham

Kathy Bonham — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 22:44:10 +0000

The primary focus of a library should be providing books for people who want to read them. If there is a great deal of money left over after that is done, then I can see the benefit of providing other media such as computer labs, etc. As a taxpayer, however, I have to admit that I sometimes question whether I want to pay for free movies, free software, free to be checked out laptops, free MP3 players, free game rooms, and free music CDs to the entire community, especially when there seems to be a shortage of books. It seems as though the library has now become a very fancy and wonderful community center, which I guess I don’t begrudge anyone, but when I try to find books, aside from what I request online, the shelves (particularly the ones downstairs in the “new books” area, are virtually empty. I hope that “budget shortfalls” will not cause the Westerville Library to have even fewer books than it has now….

By: Janice Wise

Janice Wise — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 01:40:50 +0000

I have no problem with increasing the fines for overdue materials. However I do have a problem with reducing the maximum from $5 to $1. While I have never come close to the max, it is often very inconvenient to go inside to pick up reserved materials and I most frequently use the drive-thru. Since the amount of fine is doubling, consideration of a $3 max seems extremely reasonable to me!

By: Robert Perry

Robert Perry — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 16:02:59 +0000

I understand that the economy is forcing everyone to consider newer more cost -effecive means to maintin the current level of services, and I accept that library fines should and need to be increased for those who conciously or unconsciously return items late, but is anything being done to ensure that those that do follow policies and return items on-time are not continually subjected to late fees simply because the items are not checked in appropriately? If this were a one-time issue, I wouldn’t mention it, but it continually happens and it does not seem to matter whether I drop off at the window, or whether I return books inside. If it were in the outside box, I might understand due to the last pickup being done at closing time, but even when I take the time to walk into the library and place it in the return box? Logic says that it could not have been returned late because that drop off closes when the library closes. Now I am concerned that with the lowering of the maximum fees to $1.00, when someone at the library there does not check in my DVD on-time, my privileges will be suspended until I take the time to straighten this out. That is my chief concern with this new policy; it does not allow for continued privileges while there is a dispute. I use the library frequently with my family and we consistently wait for long periods of time to access certain materials. Suspension of privileges adversely affect those waits and sometimes even cancel a hold when it happens to come consequently with a suspension of privileges. I see this now becoming a more frequent event with the new fine maximum.