[OPLINLIST] Convenience fee for looking up a card number

Wed Jul 14 13:59:33 EDT 2010

We require card #s and pins for self-signup, and we will look up both if
they can prove who they are 9some other form of ID.  Its easy to look up a
PIN if they have the card, but we are not giving a PIN to someone if it is
not THEM.  Otherwise, here's a guest pass.

The advantages of having a card?  You have the same # all the time, you
don't have to ask us for a guest pass, you can carry a balance on your print
account, you get MORE TIME (4 hrs total anytime during the day vs. up to 1
hr once).

On Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 12:12 PM, Hamrick, Lisa <
Lisa.Hamrick at cincinnatilibrary.org> wrote:

>  Another thought,
> I would hate to have libraries be perceived as acting similarly to the
> banks and the airlines - charging a little here and a little there to nickel
> and dime the customers to death.
>
> As an airline customer I hate being charged for my baggage - just charge
> more for the ticket.  And at the bank, the same applies for looking up my
> account balance.
>
> At the library, if you give me the chance to look up my account number
> myself, I will do so, but if the only way I can obtain the information (if I
> don't have my card with me) is to get library staff to look it up, I don't
> want to be charge.  Perhaps at this point of contact, if every circulation
> assistant said, "Would you like to get a replacement card, today?  If you
> bring your card with you, you will be free to log onto the Internet and
> check out books more easily!" the customers would understand that having the
> card on hand results in benefits.
> Lisa
>
> Lisa Hamrick
> Manager, Children's Learning Center
> The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
> *Lisa.Hamrick at CincinnatiLibrary.org*
> 513-369-6988
> *It’s showtime!** Summer Reading 2010 - Lights! Camera! READ! June 1 thru
> July 31 at Your Public Library. Sign up at
> www.cincinnatilibrary.org/summerread!*
>
> -----Original Message-----
> *From:* oplinlist-bounces at oplin.org [mailto:oplinlist-bounces at oplin.org]*On
> Behalf Of *Sue Banks
> *Sent:* Wednesday, July 14, 2010 10:04 AM
> *To:* oplinlist at oplin.org
> *Subject:* Re: [OPLINLIST] Convenience fee for looking up a card number
>
>  I’m listening to a book on CD right now that talks about similar issues
> and decisions (“Predictably Irrational” by Dan Ariely) in which the author
> (behavioral economist from MIT) describes the outcomes of studies in which
> effort was measured against payment (or lack thereof).  When people pay for
> a service, there is an accompanying “monetary market” contract in their
> minds that absolves them of guilt or personal “unwritten” responsibilities
> and limits their output to “what it’s worth to me.”  When there is no money
> involved, there is a “social market” understanding of the exchange (he uses
> the example of what would happen if you offered your mother-in-law $300 in
> payment for a great Thanksgiving dinner) which makes people perform better
> because “it’s the right thing to do.”   Here’s a link to the journal
> article that describes the study and it’s outcomes:
> http://web.mit.edu/ariely/www/MIT/Papers/2markets.pdf.
>
>
>
> Listening to the book has made me think in detail about our inclination in
> difficult financial times in Library Land to institute fees for services –
> or perhaps trying to “train” people not to do things that the staff finds
> irritating or irresponsible, like forgetting their library cards or barcode
> numbers, by imposing financial costs to the behavior.  There is much
> evidence in Ariely’s studies to indicate that by linking cost recovery fees
> to previously “free” services, we not only open ourselves to microscopic
> financial scrutiny for “fairness” and accountability, we also break a
> long-standing contract with our communities that is primarily a social one,
> not a market one (the “we never charge for library services” model which I’m
> beginning to believe has much more muscle than I previously thought).  I’m
> only about halfway through the book, so there’s still lots more to
> contemplate on the gossamer nature of the support for “free public
> libraries.”
>
>
>
> My (and Dan Ariely’s) $.02
>
> Sue
>
>
>
> Susan Banks, Manager
>
> Erlanger Branch
>
> Kenton County Public Library
>
> 401 Kenton Lands Rd.
> Erlanger, KY  41018
>
> 859-962-4001
>
> Fax: 859-962-4010
>
> http://www.kentonlibrary.org
>
>
>
> *From:* oplinlist-bounces at oplin.org [mailto:oplinlist-bounces at oplin.org] *On
> Behalf Of *Joanne Gilmore
> *Sent:* Tuesday, July 13, 2010 10:02 AM
> *To:* oplinlist at oplin.org
> *Subject:* [OPLINLIST] Convenience fee for looking up a card number
>
>
>
> Our public can access the internet by logging in with their Library card
> number.  Many of our customers do not carry their cards with them.
>
>
>
> I would be interested in knowing how anyone else handles this situation.
> Do you not look up cards at all?  Do you just consider it part of your
> service and look it up repeatedly for people?
>
>
>
> We are thinking about implementing a small “convenience” fee for looking up
> and writing down a patron card number for those who want to use the
> internet.  Does any other library have a fee for this?  What amount do you
> charge?  The first “lookup” would be free then the charge would be
> effective; it would be tracked by a note in the patron record.  We would not
> charge for pulling up a patron record to check out, only for writing the
> number down for them.  Your thoughts  and reactions would be appreciated.
>
>
>
>
>
> Joanne R. Gilmore
>
> Director
>
> Upper Sandusky Community Library
>
> 301 N. Sandusky Ave.
>
> Upper Sandusky, OH 43351
>
> 419-294-1345 (voice)
>
> 419-294-4499 (fax)
>
> gilmorjo at oplin.org
>
>
>
>
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>

-- 
Gerry Vogel, MLIS
Assistant Director, Avon Lake Public Library
32649 Electric Blvd. Avon Lake OH 44012 www.alpl.org
tel: 440-933-8128 x239 fax: 440-933-6406 cell: 440-258-8925

*any opinions expressed are my own and not (necessarily, or yet) those of
ALPL*

Join OHIO :  http://sites.google.com/a/avonlake.lib.oh.us/ohio/
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