By Icis Morton
MSU is falling short when it comes to collecting library fines.
Last year, library fines hit $48,634,14 but only $13,179.42 was collected.
In 2009, library fines totaled $45,312.52 but only $11,181.43 was rounded up.
Since August, 245 students have been fined $1,762.01 by the library. Roughly half that, $941.76, has been collected.
“From the $13,000 collected last year, the majority of it is money people paid for books that were not returned – lost items. This just shows that students are not worried about bringing back books late,” said Dr. Clara Latham, university librarian.
“Most of the $48,000 is overdue fine calculations,” she said. “We don’t place holds on students’ accounts if they have less than $250 in overdue fines. They walk away owing the library $50-$100 and we never collect.”
Latham said the students have no incentives to pay back the library unless they wish to check out more books in the future.
Over the years the figures gradually build up and stay in the system as unpaid money but the book is usually back on the shelf, she said.
In the future, the library should look at unpaid debts for over five years and forgive them as unaccountable so the figures will not look so high, Latham said.
Jason Brezina, circulation department manager, said fines start as low as 25 cents per day and max out at $10.
No one will be asked to pay more than $10 for a book whether it is 20 days late or three months.
Media is $1 per day with $10 maximum.
If a book is two months overdue, the computer considers the book to be lost and then charges the individual for the actual price of the book.
If there is not a price for the book in the system, the default is $25.
Brezina said that while fines have increased over the past five years, the number of lost items has been reduced.
Instead of paying money for fines, students are allowed, once a year during Library Week in April, to pay for fines with canned goods.
This benefits both the Wichita Falls Food Bank that gets the donation and the students who save money by replacing cash with canned foods.
During this time, students take care of their fines faster by using canned goods instead of money.
As a reminder, emails are sent to students when they are late to return a book.
“They will claim otherwise and say that they didn’t know about it,” Brezina said.
Brezina said the library goes as far as making phone calls to students who do not respond to e-mails. Letters about returning books are also students to students’ home addresses as a reminder.
Holds are placed on a student’s university account if fines total more than $250, or if they have not returned the item or lost the item.
With a hold on an account, a student cannot register for any classes, graduate or get any transcripts from MSU.
Latham said in extreme cases where students have dropped out of MSU, the district attorney might be contacted if the student is unreachable or uncooperative.
“One time a graduate student didn’t return 242 books,” Latham said. “He had dropped out of school.”
She said the library contacted the district attorney.
Eventually, the student’s mother brought in about 200 of the books, mentioning a fire situation at their home.
At times, the Dean of Students may get involved. The Dean may send Wichita Falls Police to students’ homes. In cases where individuals are living on campus, the library notifies the resident assistant for the dorms.
To explain the high dollar amounts, Brezina said all fines are sent back every six weeks.
Therefore, if a fine were outstanding, it would add to the update of the current figure every month.
Graduate assistants and teaching assistants are allowed to borrow books for an entire semester.
Some tend to forget and keep them for another semester instead of returning them.
Fines, however, still remain the same despite the fact that some students are allowed to have books much longer.
Students from Vernon College and Wayland Baptist University are allowed to borrow books from MSU’s library.
All the students have to do is present their Texshare card at checkout.
In a case where a book may be lost or returned, the college that he or she attends will be responsible.
Faculty and staff of MSU do not pay any fine whatsoever no matter how late they are when returning both books and media.