Early Retirement Extreme Forums

My interlibrary system shows the existence and status of every single book in the system that is where they are, when they are due, whether they're on hold, or whether they're transferring.

I've noticed that for some of the more popular books, where for example, the system owns 30 books and the book has 90 holds that about 5-10% of the books seem to be overdue usually by a few days to a week.

Interlibrary fines in my area is $1/day, so calculating:

30 books * 10% overdue * $1/book/day fine = $3/day

I presume the $150 they want to replace a lost book is nowhere near the actual cost of putting a book in the system. Let's say that for a $20 book, it's $30.

So capitalized assets are $900 ... and income is $3/day*365days = $1095/year with a $900 outlay.

Of course a book doesn't remain heavily borrowed, but at least some books appear to be net neutral or something close to it.

PS: Yes, yes, cost of wages, buildings, heat, pension plans, ... I know. What mainly astounded me was to realize how common people go overdue.

50 cents in late fees is cheaper than a degree at Harvard

My wife is a heavy user of the library. A few years ago, that late fee more than doubled, from ten cents a day to twenty five. She's gone almost exclusively to e-books as a result. Sometimes life gets in the way. Paying a couple bucks a day for a bag of books sucks.

My library never seems to enforce fines, I can continue to borrow with charges on my account.

I paid $0.25 once and was very cross. It has not happened again.

The Toronto library doesn't let you renew a book with active holds on it. I had once calculated how long it would take for me to get a book based on the queue depth, and assuming each person had their copies for the full time allotment. In reality it took much longer. This explains my naivety...

I wonder if the fines are worth it though. Sometimes the moral imperative works better. Didn't the Righteous Mind quote a study where parents more frequently picked up their kids late from daycare after fines were introduced?

I taped a quarter to the cover of my last day-late book before I dropped it into the return slot. I still have that fee outstanding.

I will note it was a hardcover. I'm not a monster.