Now that some of the items that were borrowed in March have been past due for more than 30 days, items are moving to a circ status of lost and bills are being mailed.
If a patron gets a bill for an item(s) and calls you wanting to negotiate the fees before the items have been returned, please encourage them to:
- Double-check their contact method with the library. Before someone gets a bill in the mail, if they have email or text, they should have received four messages from us. Encourage them to check their SPAM and mark notices@johnstonlibrary.com as safe
- Return the overdue and/or lost items as quickly as possible. If they are quarantined or can’t make it to the library, pass the call to Molly
- Wait for the items to make it through the quarantine and check-in process (five to seven days)
- Check online, call us back or email us at notices@johnstonlibrary.com to make sure everything was returned and verify the overdue fees on their account
- We are happy to waive fines on a one-time basis if there has been a miscommunication during the pandemic and items have come back. This would apply to fines assessed after July 1. This applies to fines – not replacement costs, damage costs, or processing fees. For other fee-related questions, please refer to Paying or Waiving Fines or Fees in the All-Desk Documentation or pass the call to circ staff.
*Please don’t encourage patrons to bring back lost books to the Circ Desk and expect them to be processed immediately. Explain that we have a quarantine process and tell them to use the book returns.
*If the item has moved to a circ status of lost and they think they returned it or they seem very concerned/upset in general, please don’t hesitate to send them to Molly for additional assistance.