Phantom fines frustrate library fan
by Jennifer Krahe 

PHOENIX – “Hi Adam,” the e‑mail read. “I wanted to let you know that our IT department is still researching the issue on your library account. In the meantime, it will not be sent to the collection agency.”

The “issue” was $36 in fines that mysteriously appeared on the library account of Adam Gaines. The e‑mail was from Vicki Novak, a supervisor at the George L. Campbell Branch, 17811 N. 32nd Street in Phoenix, one of the libraries within the Maricopa County Library District (MCLD).

Last week Gaines went to the library three different times. But it wasn’t to borrow books. Gaines was searching for a supervisor to clear the fines. He reports not having used the library in two months.

“I spoke with four different librarians,” he wrote to The Desert Advocate. “None of them could offer any explanation for–or seemed to care–why or how the late fines could have been added without my having any material checked out.”

The only response to his complaints, according to Gaines, was that people who experienced a problem similar to his could telephone the library and ask to speak specifically with a librarian. The librarian, he was told, could then override the fines or allow for a renewal. 

Gaines has raised two concerns: phantom fines are a hassle and a serious problem, and the renewal and fining policies of MCLD are unclear and misleading.

When trying to renew books online in the past, Gaines says he got an “error” message that read, “Renewals are not allowed because of the due date of the book,” No other options, he asserted, were available. The library does not allow renewals of materials on or after the due date of the particular item.

The ineffective online system, Gaines says, illustrates the misleading renewal and fining policies of MCLD.

“The policies are clearly stated in our literature (brochures, online information),” said Harry Courtright in the administration office of MCLD. The brochure, however, says nothing about renewing on or after the due date of library material. The sole renewal information provided is as follows: “Items may be renewed as long as no one else is waiting. The maximum number of times an item can be renewed is five times. No customer can use any one title exclusively.” The brochure states it’s possible to renew at the library, by telephone, or online.

The section of the brochure that deals with fines simply enumerates the cost per day for a late book, CD, DVD or interlibrary loan items.  

Library policies listed on the MCLD Web site are the same. The only addition is the following: “If a due date falls on a library district holiday or when the library is closed, the loan period will be extended to the next business day.”

Courtright assured The Desert Advocate on Thursday that Gaines’ problem had been addressed and explained completely to him. “There are no mysterious fines on Mr. Gaines’ record,”

Courtright asserted. “The fines are not mysterious.”

Gaines is confused. “All the librarians did was read to me what was printed on my most recent account statement,” he said.

“I suppose that’s what he (Courtright) means when he says my fines have been explained to me.”

Although the $36 fine has now been waived by the library, Gaines says he has received no explanation as to why it appeared in the first place. “I think that from one statement to the next, three DVDs I had already returned on time two months previously were changed to having been turned in late,” he related. 

Gaines said other fines he’d incurred in the past were due solely to the fact that he was out of town when the items came due and he could not renew online. He calls the policy misleading and “possibly an attempt to generate extra income when people discover they can’t renew books  on the due date but can’t bring them back right away, either.”