Borrowing Privileges Policy

Stark County District Library Cards: Eligibility, Registration, and Use

I. Who may receive a card?
Any individual who presents acceptable identification may obtain a free library card. Once issued, the cardholder, regardless of age, will be the only individual authorized to use his or her card.

II. Registration:
Patrons 18 and over:
1) Patron must complete a library card application.
2) Patron must show an acceptable form of identification.
Acceptable forms of identification are as follows:
- The preferred form of ID is a driver’s license or state ID with current address.
- These forms of identification are also acceptable but must be accompanied by verification of current address:
     Birth certificate
     Social Security card
     Passport
     Employment identification card
     Student ID
     Acceptable items for address verification:
          Printed personal check
          Utility bill
          Cancelled piece of mail addressed to the applicant
     If current address is not provided a temporary card may be issued.
Patrons between the ages of 16-17:
• Patron must complete a library card application.
• A signature of parent or guardian IS NOT required.
• A parent or guardian’s name must be listed on the application.
• Identification is preferred but IS NOT required.
Patrons 15 and under:
• Patron must complete a library card application.
• Parent or guardian signature IS required on the Parental Consent Form.
• A parent or guardian need not be present for the patron to receive his/her library card.
• Identification IS NOT required.
Educators/Home Educators:
The following individuals may request an educator card:
     School teachers
     Teacher aides
     Home educators
     School librarians/Library Resource Center technicians
     Teachers in nursery schools
     Child care centers
     Preschools, including teacher assistants
Corporations/Organizations:
• Three individuals may be listed as approved to receive this card.
• Examples of organizations eligible for corporate cards:
     Timken Company
     Stark Regional Community Correction Center
     Multi-County Correctional Facility
     Red Cross
     YMCA

Replacement card or renewing a card:
• All personal library cards must be renewed every three years. In addition, an address check is done once a year.
• All Educator cards must be renewed every September.
• The replacement fee for a card is $1.00.

Non-Residents:
There is currently no charge for non-residents of the State of Ohio. A temporary card may be issued and must be renewed every six months.

Loan Periods, Item Limits, and Procedures

The following loan periods and item limits have been established to provide patrons with an adequate amount of time for both using and returning library materials in a timely manner.

I. Adult, Young Adult, and Juvenile, Materials
Most materials, unless specifically noted below, have no item limits and circulate for fourteen days.
• Most magazines, comic books and CD-ROMs circulate for seven days and have no limits.
• Most videos and DVDs circulate for seven days and are limited to ten per library card. These may include any combination of Adult, Young Adult, and Juvenile items. Access to these materials by patrons under the age of sixteen will be determined by the restrictions listed on the library card application.
• Framed Prints circulate for twenty-eight days from North Branch only, are limited to three per card, and may be renewed. No holds are permitted on these prints.
• Materials checked out on a Teacher’s Card circulate for six weeks.
• Kidmobile materials circulate for one month.
• Bookmobile materials circulate for two weeks.

II. Renewals
Most library materials are renewable twice for their standard loan periods unless they are on hold for other patrons or are Book Express Items. Items may be renewed in the library, or by telephoning during open hours, or via the “My Account” feature located in the Library Catalog portion of the Stark County District Library’s web site at www.starklibrary.org. This should be done in advance of the due date in case the items may not be renewed.

III. Non-Circulating Items
Selected magazine and newspaper titles to which the Stark County District Library subscribes do not circulate and must be used in the library. In addition, materials found in our Reference collection do not circulate and must be used in the building. In general, these reference titles are not designed to be read from cover to cover but are used to find answers to specific questions.

The Executive Director or his designee may grant exceptions to this rule.

IV. Return of Items
Stark County District Library items may be returned to any Stark County District Library location. In addition, Massillon Public Library and the Louisville Public Library patrons may also return their items to any Stark County District Library location and they will be forwarded to the owning agency. As a courtesy, library materials from other libraries may be returned to any Stark County District Library location, but may be forwarded to the owning agency by regular mail. This may result in overdue fines if materials do not reach the owning agency before the due date.

Fines, Fees, and Other Charges

The library is always looking for ways to improve patron service, and with the use of Printer Receipts and Email Notification, the library has tried to notify patrons as much as possible when their materials are due back at the library. Even though this effort has been made to make patrons aware of the due dates to encourage the prompt return of materials, overdue fines are assessed for items which are returned past their due dates. The fine for all materials, unless specifically noted in the following sentence is ten cents a day. CDROMs, Videos and DVDs and Inter- Library Loan materials have a fine of fifty cents a day.

I. Waiver of Fines and Fees
The Circulation Staff has the option of waiving or reducing charges if they determine that extenuating circumstances so warrant.

II. Damaged Items
Charges are assessed for lost or damaged items to encourage patrons to take proper care of public property. The following charges will be assessed for materials returned damaged:
$1___ Bar Code
$1___ DVD/Video Cases
$1___ CD/CD-ROM Cases
$1___ Book on Tape/CD Cases
$1___ Puppet Bags
$1___ Damaged Pages
$3___ Missing Inserts for CDs/CD-ROMs
$8___ Missing Tape/CD Multi-sets
*Bindery charges will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

III. Replacement Costs
Patrons are responsible for damaged and lost materials. If the damage to items is so severe as to require replacement (such as missing pages, markings made with a pen, original accompanying material lost), the patron will be charged the original replacement cost of the item, plus a non-refundable processing fee of $5.00. Patrons may replace a damaged or lost item with a new copy of the item as long as it is in good condition and is acceptable to the Collection Development Department. The lost charges would then be waived, but the patron is still responsible for accrued fines and a $5.00 processing fee.

Materials lost or damaged due to extraordinary events, such as house fire, tornado, flood or theft will be excused. The patron will be asked to provide the appropriate reports.

IV. Overdue Notices
In order to remind patrons that they have outstanding overdue items, they are sent a First Notice when items are seven days overdue. A Second Notice is printed when items are twenty-one days overdue. The patron is called or a copy of that notice is sent out. When the items are twenty-eight days overdue and the patron’s account reaches a total of $30 or more, the patron receives a bill for any charges that are on the card and are notified that he/she may be referred to a collection agency if the materials are not returned and fines paid. Patrons have the option of having notices delivered through the mail, or to their email account. Failure to receive a notice will not be considered grounds for waiving a fine, as patrons are responsible for keeping track of the due dates.

V. Collection Agency Submittals
Patrons who have accounts with balances of $30.00 or more will be submitted to a collection agency approximately four weeks after receiving a bill, or eight weeks after items become overdue. When the patron’s account is submitted to the collection agency, he or she will be assessed a non-refundable collection agency fee of $10.00, in addition to the regular library fines specified elsewhere in this policy. If the patron does not respond to initial collection agency contact then, if they qualify, their account will be credit reported by the collection agency. If overdue items are returned, instead of paying the replacement cost of the item, they will only be responsible for paying the fine on each item plus the collection fee.

VI. Payment of Charges
The Library accepts the following forms of payment for fines accrued:
• Cash, money orders, cashier’s check, or other accepted method.
• A personal check drawn on a local bank and made out to the “Stark County District Library” for the exact amount of the fine. Proper ID is required.
• A NSF charge of $20.00 will be added to the patron’s record for any checks returned to the library.

VII. Claimed Returned Items
Items which patrons say they have returned, but cannot be located on the shelves, may be placed in the Claimed Returned status. The library allows three items to be placed in Claimed Returned over the lifetime of the card. The patron will not be financially responsible for items nor will the Claimed Returned items hinder the checking out of other materials. However, any materials lost beyond the three items, must be paid in full.

VIII. Refunds
If a patron locates an item after he/she has paid for it, a refund will be issued for the cost of the item minus any overdue fines accrued and a $5.00 processing fee. The request must be made within thirty days of the payment. Patrons who request a refund must provide the receipt that was issued by the library at the time payment was tendered.

IX. Denial of Borrowing Privileges
To ensure that no one patron accrues an excessively high fine, the borrowing privileges of that patron will be denied when the fines exceed $5.00. Any patron who has been referred to the collection agency will be denied borrowing privileges until all delinquent materials are returned and all fines and fees are paid in full.

Special Services

I. Interlibrary Loan/Patron Requests
This free service allows patrons to borrow library materials, not in the Stark County District Library, Louisville or Massillon collections from other libraries. The Interlibrary Loan Department will attempt to find the materials, with requests taking an average of two weeks to locate, and then be received by the library. Patrons will be notifed that the materials have arrived and are ready for pick up. Requests for this service may be made by phone, at the Main Library, Branches, or on the web site at www.starklibrary.org.

II. Email Notification
By providing an email address the following emails may be received: courtesy notices, 1st overdues notices and Hold notices. The information will be used for official library use only. The library does not sell or give its list of account holders or email addresses to other organizations or groups. Library card holders will be eligible to receive updates regarding library programs and services.

III. Reserving Library Material
A patron may place a HOLD on a specific item, for which there is a waiting list at any library location by doing one of the following:
• Using the online library catalogs on the public floor.
• Asking a staff member for assistance.
• Reserving the item online at www.starklibrary.org.

Patrons may choose how to be notified, whether by email, mail, or phone and at which SCDL location they wish to pick up the item(s). When the requested item is returned to the Library, the patron will be notified that the item is being held for them until a specified date. A patron may have no more than thirty outstanding Hold requests at any one time. A patron is responsible for notifying the library if he/she no longer needs a requested item and wishes to be removed from the waiting list. A patron may also remove his/her name from his/her Holds list by logging onto the library’s web site and accessing the library’s catalog, then My Account.