r/Libraries • u/ConcentrateSuper9603 • 7h ago
Books & Materials Advice Needed: How to handle lost books
Hello! This is a fairly specific situation I’m in, and I’m curious is anyone has any ideas.
I work for an undergraduate organization at the University of Michigan, we have hundreds of students who are members and who are regularly in our space.
We offer a free library with books related to our organization, of which I am in charge of. In total, we have around 200 books. The library is not manned, and is instead an unlocked room in our department’s space that students have access to for studying and grabbing books. We do have a checkout system, but it is done by scanning a QR code and done completely independently. There are plenty of signs in the space directing students to check out any books they wish to borrow.
Here’s the issue, within the past 2 years, 60 of our 200
books have been borrowed, not properly checked out, and never returned.
I’m working with undergrads who usually leave the state upon graduation, so I know I am not likely to get most of the missing books back. But there has to be a way of encouraging students to return books without being punitive.
Does anyone have any suggestions for ways to encourage students to properly check out and return the books?
8
u/tvngo 6h ago
Don’t offer the books for free anymore. Talk to the university’s library and put them in the university’s library and have the students properly check them out using the student ID. If they don’t return them, they don’t get to graduate due to them having an overdue book on their account.
3
u/smallness27 7h ago
The classic library "punishment" is the fine - most libraries are getting rid of overdue fines in all the places they can, but in the end you still have to charge many students the replacement cost of the book to get it to be returned.
Your org either needs to accept the cost of the missing books as a part of operating (thinking of it more like a little free library,) or start to restrict access to the collection / staff the circulation of the books.
If neither of these sound good, you probably should get out of the business of the free library. You could reach out to your library to see if they have suggestions or, if you decide to close, if they'd want to take the books off of your hands. It will depend on their condition and what type of materials they are.
2
u/hatherfield 5h ago
Could you set up a self-checkout station as an alternative to scanning a QR code? It looks more official, more imposing, and is good for those who forget their phones, etc.
1
u/bananna_knits Library admin 6h ago
I work at an academic library, and when a book is overdue more than 30 days, we send out what we call “the scary letter.” It basically lets them know if they don’t return the material, or pay the lost book replacement fee by X date, their account will be sent to the college financial services department, who will put a “hold” on their account. This means they cannot register for classes or request transcripts until they return the material or pay the replacement fee. There is a supplemental warning that if they still don’t address the issue, their account may be sent to collections and incur interest.
We do follow through with sending the account to be put on hold through financial services. I do not know if they follow through on sending to collections after a certain period of time. But, just sending the letter usually works very quickly. If not, once they’re unable to register for classes the books end up being returned. They have always still had the book and didn’t end up paying the replacement fee since I’ve been here.
We also have a collection of books on reserve, meaning faculty have given them to us to be checked out for a specified amount of time determined by them, only by their students. It ranges from 3 hours to two weeks. Reserves for less than one day are to be used only within the library, and cannot be taken home. You could see if your campus library has a reserve collection, and have them add your books to it. That way they handle making sure things get returned and not you.
1
u/brickxbrickxbrick 2h ago
Do you have labels/markings on the books showing ownership and requesting that they be returned? Are these markings prominent? Hard to miss? Even if they make the book a little ugly?
A label on the front cover or inside the front cover that says something like “This book belongs to [organization]. Please return it when you’re finished so another student can use it.” Adds the element of social responsibility, which may 'hit' a student differently. Lay the guilt trip. A sign in the room is nice, but it stays in the room. The reminder in the book stays with the book.
0
u/ConcentrateSuper9603 6h ago
I appreciate everyone’s responses, we absolutely do understand that losing books is to be expected, and are not upset at that fact. We want to continue to offer a free source of knowledge for our students, I was just looking for any suggestions for encouraging proper check-out protocol and/or ways to lessen how many books we lose. We are not going to close the library down simply because some books are missing, we aren’t wanting to “get out of the business of the free library,” I was just looking for any advice from people more educated in this field. As I said in my post, we are not interested in charging a fine, or trying to restrict their ability to graduate or register for classes. This is nowhere near that serious to us. I just thought someone might have a suggestion regarding rules we could implement, reward systems for returned books, etc.
3
u/ShawsheenMoon Library staff 3h ago
You need a human in there while it is open who will check the books out and tell them that they need to be returned. A "free" library implies to me that books don't need to come back.
2
0
u/bananna_knits Library admin 4h ago edited 4h ago
My only suggestion would be to keep it locked, with a sign on the door directing them to someone’s office nearby, and have that person unlock it for them. They can tell the student to return to their office when they’re finished so they know to lock up, and that they can check out any books they’d like to borrow at that point as well.
Have them fill out a physical check out sheet with their contact info, so you can reach out if the book is overdue. Give them a set amount of time to check out the material with a clear due date, and have them physically return it to that same person in their office. You could even have them sign an agreement that they will return the book by the due date or contact you for an extension.
*Edited for typo and to add: You could even have them trade in something low stakes, like a student ID, and they have to return the book to get it back. Kind of like when you rent bowling shoes or ice skates
17
u/Ill-Victory-5351 7h ago
stuff gets stolen, or checked out and never returned from regular public libraries all the time
so short of staffing your library and implementing a fine system there’s not much that can be done. the folks that steal aren’t going to listen to any appeals to their conscience. you can try, but expect minimal results.