[OPLINLIST] adoptive kids and collections

[Eric Taggart]

I would only allow children's materials to be checked out with the
children's cards until the adoptive father's card is cleared.  I would also
work out some type of an agreement with him where he paid whatever he could
towards the lost materials each month.

I just had a similar situation take place.  The grandmother of a child has
custody and wants her grandchild to be able to use the library.  The
grandchild has over $200 in lost fines, which occurred when the child was 7
years old with a card the father signed for.  The grandmother had spoken to
the father (her son) about returning the items, but was unable to get him to
do so.  Her card had $16 in fines and she hadn't used the library in quite
some time.  After some thought, I asked her to pay her fine and to continue
to encourage her son to return the lost items.

The reality is that you are never going to see the money from the kids'
original cards- forget it, you'll never get it no matter what you do.  But I
don't see any reason that you can't recover the $80 on the adoptive father's
card.  It's like running the bank running someone's credit for a loan- you
need to make sure that you are giving these cards to the care of responsible
people.  If he pays his $80, he will again become a responsible patron in
the eyes of the library, and the kids can have cards.  You are just being a
good steward of the public's money, while doing your best to help these
children use the library

Hope this helps-
Eric


-- 
Eric D. Taggart, Director
Coshocton Public Library
655 Main Street
Coshocton, Ohio  43812
Phone: 740.622.0956
Fax: 740.622.4331
coshoctonlibrary.org


On Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 12:52 PM, Rachelle Miller <rmiller at tmcpl.org> wrote:

> I feel the kids should probably be given cards. But here's an additional
> piece of information: The adoptive dad has $80 worth of lost materials.
>
> ***************************************
> Rachelle Miller, Director
> Troy-Miami County Public Library
> 419 W. Main St.
> Troy, Ohio 45373
> 937.339.0502 ext. 116
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mutznema at oplin.org [mailto:mutznema at oplin.org]
> Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2010 12:42 PM
> To: Rachelle Miller
> Subject: Re: [OPLINLIST] adoptive kids and collections
>
> I would probably let the children check out things on their original
> card
> one item at a time with a small deposit put on their fine each time they
> checked out a material.  Otherwise, they will accrue more overdues and
> the
> cycle would go on and on.>
>
> Good luck!
> Marjorie Mutzner
> J. R. Clarke Public Library
>
>
>
> I have parents who have become guardians for two children and would like
> > to get them library cards. The children already have cards that have
> > fines and lost material on them dating back to 2006. We have sent one
> to
> > debt collection. I am wondering what other libraries do in this type
> of
> > situation. Do you give them a card and forgive the fines and lost
> > materials? Do you make the new guardians pay for the items? How do you
> > handle this type of situation?
> >
> > Thanks in advance for any input.
> >
> >
> >
> > ***************************************
> >
> > Rachelle Miller, Director
> >
> > Troy-Miami County Public Library
> >
> > 419 W. Main St.
> >
> > Troy, Ohio 45373
> >
> > 937.339.0502 ext. 116
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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