Background
When I started at Brandeis Library I inherited a fines and fees system that was overly punitive ($5/hour on all items from a flash drive to a laptop) and resulted in a lot of forgiven fines. Through a reorganization of fines, specifically on technology equipment, we were able to keep these vital resources available to more of the community.
My Role
As the public services technology coordinator, it was my technology equipment collection that was the main target for the fine and fee reorganization. I created the fine structure listed below and advocated for it throughout the approval process.
Outcome
The first step was laying out a new fine structure. From the flat $5/hour or $5/day rate for all item types, we moved to the following:
Fine Structure
| Item type | Fine | Maximum fine |
|---|---|---|
| General 4-hour loans | $0.25/hour | $40.00 |
| Charger 4-hour loans | $0.50/hour | $40.00 |
| General 24-hour loans | $0.50/hour | $40.00 |
| Laptops 24-hour loans | $2.00/hour | $100.00 |
| 3-day loans | $0.50/day | $40.00 |
| General | 7-day loans | $0.50/day |
| Laptops | 7-day loans | $5.00/day |
After sign-off from multiple stakeholders, including the University Librarian and Provost, we implemented the new structure in Alma’s fulfillment units.