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Borrowing Guidelines

Borrowing Guidelines
CD-ROM Circulating Collection
The Oshkosh Public Library provides materials in CD-ROM format for circulation under the following conditions:

  1. The Oshkosh Public Library is not responsible for damage to personal computer hardware and software caused by use of CD-ROM materials.
  2. The Library will not provide technical assistance for hardware or software problems. CD-ROM users can contact those publishers and retailers who provide technical assistance.
  3. Overdue fine is $.50 per day per item with a maximum fine of $5.00. There is no grace period.
  4. Borrowers will be charged for damage to the discs and for missing contents.

A disclaimer incorporating the first two paragraphs will be placed in the material to be circulated.

Videocassettes

1. Videocassettes may be reserved and may be renewed once unless there is a reserve for the item.

2. The rules of the agency from which the videocassettes are checked out apply:

Main Library Videocassettes

  1. Videocassettes must be returned to the library by closing of the seventh day, or to a library bookdrop prior to opening on the eighth day.
  2. The overdue fine rate is $.10 per day for adult videocassettes and $.05 per day for juvenile videocassettes, with a maximum fine of $5.00 per adult videocassette and $3.00 per juvenile videocassette. There is no grace period.

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Item Limits & Loan Periods
Board policy provides that limits on the number of items, reserves and length of loan will be determined by the Administration depending on the quantity available and the demand for the material.
Item Limits
  1. Maximum total items a borrower may check out: 75
  2. High Demand Collection Limit
    • DVDs: 7 per card
    • Lucky Day Books: 1 item per card
Loan Periods
7 Days
    • Videocassettes
    • Children's videocassettes
    • DVDs
14 Days
    • Magazines
    • Children's magazines
    • Lucky Day adult and children's best sellers
    • New Fiction
    • New Nonfiction with long reserve lists
28 Days
    • Audiocassettes
    • Books on CD
    • Children's books and A-V items except videos and magazines
    • CD-Rom
    • Compact Disc
    • Fiction
    • Foreign Language Books & Cassette Tapes
    • Large Print
    • New Nonfiction
    • Pamphlets
    • Paperbacks
    • Records
    • TDD
    • Visual Aid Equipment
    • Young Adult books and paperbacks
56 Days
    • Literacy materials
Various Dates
  • ILL Items (Interlibrary loan) - Due date is set by the lending library and can be anything from one day to one month.

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Renewals

Most library materials can be renewed one time if the items have not been reserved by another library user. Items may be renewed in person, through the library's catalog on the Internet and by telephone (236-5203).

There are NO renewals on reserved items, Lucky Day best sellers, reference books, and interlibrary loan materials.

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Fines & Fees
Fines
  1. The daily fine rate is $.10 per day/per item for adult material material except:
    • CD-ROM Material -- $.50 per day/per item
    • Reference Material -- $1.00 per day/per item
    • Videocassettes, DVDs-- $.10 per day/per item
    • Interlibrary Loan Material -- $1.00 per day/per item
    • The daily fine rate is $.05 per day/per item for all juvenile materials.
    • The library will not charge fines for days when it is closed.
    • Fines will begin the first day the item is overdue. There is no grace period for check-outs.
  2. The maximum fine is $5.00 for adult material and $3.00 for juvenile material except for a $10.00 maximum for reference and interlibrary loan material.
  3. The library does not charge fines for material checked out on school cards at schools and daycare centers; for deposit collections placed at nursing homes and daycare centers; or for material checked out to homebound delivery patrons.
  4. Patrons are allowed to check out material until their total accumulation of fines reaches $5.00. When this amount is exceeded, the patron must reduce the fine to below $5.00 before additional material may be checked out. All fines and charges must be paid before a patron's card will be renewed each year.
Overdue Notices and Billing
Library Using Collection Agency

In April 2005 the Oshkosh Public Library began using Unique Management Systems (UMS), a specialty library collection agency, to collect charges for unreturned library materials. UMS is able to handle files directly from the library’s computer system.

Why?
It’s all about sharing. The materials that are kept out for long periods of time are not available to other library users. Despite our best attempts, a small number of library users (less than 1%) do not return library materials or pay for their replacement. This places a burden on all taxpayers who must foot the bill for repeated attempts to contact those delinquent users, pay to replace and process non-returned items, and collect fines and charges.

What is the new system?

  • First Notice at 10 days overdue.
  • Bill at 30 days overdue.
  • Service is denied when fines or bills reach $5.00.

    • At 45 days overdue, all users owing $25.00 or more for unreturned materials are referred to UMS. A non-refundable fee of $15.00 is added to the user's account. This covers the cost for the collection agency's work.
    • 46 days overdue – UMS sends the user a letter asking them to contact their library to return the item and pay the fines and fee.
    • 67 days overdue – UMS sends the user another letter.
    • 81 days overdue – UMS starts calling the user.
    • 109 days overdue – UMS sends a final letter.
    • 165 days overdue – UMS reports the user to three national credit bureaus.

What should I do?

    • Promptly respond to library notices to return the material.
    • Pay fines promptly.
    • Pay bills for lost materials or return the materials within 12 days of receiving the bill notice at 30 days overdue.
    • Once the library submits the bill to UMS at 45 days overdue, the non-refundable fee of $15 is added to your account. The fee and any overdue fines must be paid even if you return the item after being contacted by UMS.
    • If you are contacted by UMS and do not remember which items have not been returned, contact the Oshkosh Public Library Circulation Department at 236-5203.
    • Return items to or pay for them at the Oshkosh Public Library.
    • The Oshkosh Public Library accepts Visa and Master Card for payments.
    • Do not ignore the letters sent by UMS on our behalf. Your credit rating will be affected if you have not cleared your account by the time an item is 165 days overdue.
    • If you are contacted by UMS on our behalf, and you question the accuracy of the bill, please contact the Oshkosh Public Library Circulation Department at 236-5203.

Privacy & Resposibility

    • UMS, the collection agency, receives only the patron identification information and amount owed. They do not get information about which titles the patron has checked out.

  • Library users are responsible for all use made of their card until it has been reported as lost or stolen to the Oshkosh Public Library Circulation Department.

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Lost Materials Charges

Patrons are responsible for all material checked out on their library card before the card is reported lost or stolen. A standard processing fee of $5.00 is included in the prices for all except: Paperback and board books which have a fee of $2.00 and pamphlets which have a fee of $1.00.

Standard Replacement Fee
Adult Material
Standard Replacement Fee
Juvenile Material
Fiction $25.00 Fiction $19.00
Nonfiction $30.00 Nonfiction $19.00
Paperback Collection $7.00 Paperback Collection $5.00
Large Print $25.00 Board Books $5.00
Record $13.00 Record $13.00
Audio Cassette $13.00 Audio Cassette $13.00
Magazine $4.00 Magazine $3.00
Pamphlets $2.00 Cassette/Book $17.00
Videocassettes $30.00 Videocassettes $25.00
Compact Discs $20.00 Compact Discs $20.00
CD-ROM Materials $45.00 Toy/Puppet $18.00
DVD $30.00 Game $13.00
Books on CD $40.00 Books on CD $20.00
Reference Books $80.00 b c
By default, these prices will be assigned to all overdue material that reaches the bill stage when price information is not in the lost-item record. At a patron's request, authorized OPL staff may make exceptions for in-print material that is significantly lower priced than the above prices. The current edition of Books in Print will be used, when necessary, to adjust the standard replacement price of lost items. When prices are adjusted, the standard processing fee will still be charged. The standard replacement price and processing fee will be charged for all out-of-print material. In cases where the value of the item can be demonstrated by the library to be substantially greater than the default value by reference to original publisher's price or current out-of-print dealers' prices, the patron will receive a supplemental billing.

In lieu of paying the standard replacement price, a patron may replace a lost item with an exact edition copy of the lost item. The standard processing fee will be assessed to patrons who choose this option.

Payments will be refunded up to one year after the item is paid for, if the item is located by the borrower and returned to the library or is located by the library and the borrower can be contacted.

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Standard Charges for Damages
Damage Amount
Dirty, torn, or inked page $.25 per page
Plastic jacket $1.00
New spine $1.00
Pocket $.50
End papers $.50
Water damage $1.00-$5.00 depending severity of damage
Rebinding/Recasing current vendor charge
Audio Cassette case $2.00
Plastic record jacket $3.00
Videocassette case $2.50
Bar-code label $.50
Compact Disc Case $1.25
Missing documentation for CD-ROM $2.00
CD booklet $2.00
CD-ROM binder $7.00
Pencil pouch $2.00
Book on CD case $6.00
DVD case $2.00

Amounts may be increased when the severity of damage warrants. Full replacement charges will be assessed for any material damaged beyond use.

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Lost Library Card Replacement Fee

  • Patrons - 18 years old and above - $1.00
  • Patrons under age 18 - $.50
Public Typewriter and Word Processing Fees

  • The charge for the use of the public typewriter is $.50 per hour. The charge for the use of the public word processing computer is $1.00 per hour plus $.10 per page for printing.
Print Out and Photocopy Charges

The following charges apply for computer printouts and photocopies.

  1. Public Photocopiers: $ .10 per page
  2. Microfilm or Microfiche Prints, all machines: $ .25 per page
  3. CD-ROM products: Periodical Citations - free
  4. All other black & white printouts, including but not limited to abstracts, dictionary definitions, selected text, full text, maps, directory information, company reports, and tables of contents pages - $ .10 per page
  5. All color printouts - $ .25 per page
  6. On-line products: Periodical Citations - free
  7. All other black & white printouts, including but not limited to abstracts, dictionary definitions, selected text, full text, screen prints from the catalog, including borrower information, bibliographic citations, screen prints from home page, Internet or World Wide Web sites - $ .10 per page
  8. All color printouts - $ .25 per page

Except for coin-operated public equipment, payment is to be made at designated service desks. The library reserves the right to designate which stations will have color print capability.

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