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Loans Policy
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ACT Public Library Loans Policy
1. IntroductionThis policy aims to ensure that the ACT Public Library carries out its responsibilities towards: Membership categories Loan periods Conditions of loan. The loans policy is normally updated annually in the September quarter or as required. If you would like to comment on the policy you may do so by email to library@customerinfo.act.gov.au or by writing to: Phone 02 62059000 2. Personal information required2.1 Details required for membership I 2.2 Adequate proof of identity I 2.3 Date of birth I 2.4 Recording and retention of loan history Library membership is freely available to all persons who live, work or study in the ACT and surrounding district of the Canberra Region, and who provide adequate proof of identity and residential address. Library members must produce their library card to borrow items. Privacy of Information The ACT Public Library uses membership information for several purposes: Residential address is required for proof of residency in the ACT & ACT Region, or for sending any correspondence such as overdues and requests notices, book club notices etc. Postal address is used to send correspondence such as overdues and requests notices, book club notices. Date of birth is used as an identifier for people with common names, for assigning borrower status (Junior, Senior and Pensioner etc), and for the identification of demographic trends. This information is used by the library for planning future services. Pensioner status is used to confirm exemption from fines. Senior status is used to confirm exemption from fines and to assist in planning future service for seniors. Gender information is recorded for identification and statistical purposes. It is also held for planning future services, collection management and selection of items in the collection. Language information is recorded for statistical purposes and to assist for developing services in languages other than English. 2.1 Details required for membershipMembers may refer to the Department of Territory & Municipal Services Privacy Policy for explanation of the use of personal information. To become a member the following information is needed. family name or surname and first given name second given name (if any) residential address postal address date of birth languages spoken other than English Personal information will not be given to a third party without the member’s knowledge and consent, except where it is a legal requirement. 2.2 Adequate proof of identityPhotographic identification is preferred. However Medicare card, pension card, bank card etc are also acceptable. 2.3 Date of birthDate of birth is required to distinguish between members who have the same name. Membership cannot be refused if the applicant does not wish to provide this information. However it will not be possible to confirm eligibility status for any special borrower category without date of birth. 2.4 Recording and retention of loan historySenior members can give permission to have history of borrowed materials attached to their membership to assist with their selection of new material. 3. Membership ResponsibilitiesAll members are to notify the library of any changes that may affect their membership. This includes the following: name, address, phone number or email address, member’s status such as pensioner, senior, etc. This may be done: in person at any ACT public library by phoning the Customer Information Centre on 62059000 by e-mail to librarycustomerinfo@act.gov.au through the Virtual Library at http://www.library.act.gov.au by contacting Canberra Connect or Elections ACT or at any ACT Government Shopfront. 3.1 Membership card replacementNew library members are issued with a library membership card, which may be replaced free of charge should it become worn, or a member changes name. A fee is charged for lost, stolen or damaged cards. 3.2 Card SecurityMembers are advised to keep their card in a secure place, and not lend their card to anyone. It is important to notify the library immediately if a library card is lost or stolen, or if unauthorised use is suspected. Until the loss or theft is reported, the library cannot prevent unauthorised use of a member’s card, and members will be held responsible for items loaned and fees accrued. 4. Membership Categories4.1 Adult (A) I 4.2 Sight Impaired (B) I 4.3 Book Start (BB) I 4.4 College Students (C) I 4.5 Senior (E) I 4.6 Group (G) I 4.7 Home Library Service (HLS) I 4.8 Inter Library Loans (I) I 4.9 Junior Membership (J) I 4.10 Online Registrations (O) I 4.11 Restricted members (R) I 4.12 Visitors (Adult, Junior, Senior etc) I 4.13 Staff (S) I 4.14 Teachers (T) I 4.15 Membership deletion The following membership categories and associated loan periods are used. On occasions, members may have two memberships e.g. Senior and Home Library Service. Membership categories are arranged in alphabetical order below.
4.1 Adult (A)Is available to people between the ages of 16 to 59, who are not eligible for membership to any categories listed below. 4.2 Sight Impaired (B)Copyright law requires evidence of the disability. This may be self evident, or in the form of a letter from a doctor, community worker, or referral from the Blind Society etc. Materials specifically designated for the print handicapped, such as spoken word cassettes are loaned for 6 weeks (42 days) 4.3 Book Start (BB)Membership for babies. 4.4 College Students (C)Students from Erindale and Tuggeranong Colleges are granted borrowing rights based on joint use arrangements with Erindale and Tuggeranong Libraries. The Colleges set borrowing terms of college purchased material. 4.5 Senior (E)Is available to people aged 60 and over. Senior members can have their loan history attached to their membership to assist with their selection of new materials. This category is changed to N when seniors have given their permission for their loan history to be kept. Please note: access to loan history is currently unavailable 4.6 Group (G)The role of the library is not to provide an entire collection for an organisation, but rather to support and supplement their existing collections. The needs of one group must be balanced against the needs of individual library members and other organisations. Group members are therefore limited to 50 items per Group. To obtain a group membership, an authorised representative of the group must be registered on the group’s behalf. Membership details must accurately reflect the current authorised representative. As with single memberships, the group member is responsible for all the material borrowed by the group, including returning materials on time, and paying overdue fines and other charges incurred. The library reserves the right to limit the numbers of high demand items from any one category, such as popular school assignment topics etc. Groups include organisations such as hostels, childcare centres, pre-schools and schools. 4.7 Home Library Service (HLS)Home Library Service membership is offered to those people who are unable to visit the library themselves. This may be for long or short-term periods, e.g. while recovering from a medical condition. Carers and dependent children are also eligible for home library membership. These members may have a second membership in recognition that they may be able from time to time to visit the library to select independently. The ACT Public Library encourages this. Members are visited or phoned by HLS staff to establish reading preferences and any special requirements. The membership card is kept at Home Library Service, Griffith. As home library service members are visited fortnightly or monthly, the 6 week loan period enables library staff and volunteers to manage member requirements. 4.8 Inter Library Loans (I)The inter library loan membership category is used for the borrowing library only and is not a membership category for public use. Library members use their regular membership for this service. If the ACT Public Library does not hold an item required by a member, it can request that item from another library. This process is described in Section 11. 4.9 Junior Membership (J)Children under 16 years of age must have a parent or guardian provide proof of residential address on their behalf, as signatory to the membership. Parents applying for membership of children, who are not with them at the time of joining, will need to provide proof of the child’s existence e.g. Medicare card. Arrangements can be made for special group visits to the library by teachers of students from the Introductory English Centres. If information and membership forms are sent home and signed before the visit, the library will accept the enrolment records of the school as proof of address. 4.10 Online Registrations (O)People wishing to join the library online and use only the online resources are able to do so through the library’s web site at http://www.library.act.gov.au. In this case, an “O” or Online membership will be issued. If “Online” members wish to borrow from the library’s collections, they are required to visit a public library branch and register for full membership by providing the personal information required. 4.11 Restricted members (R)Restricted membership provides temporary membership for people who wish to join the library but who are temporarily unable to provide adequate proof of residential address. They are required to show ID eg. Medicare card, credit card etc. 4.12 Visitors (Adult, Junior, Senior etc)Interstate visitors must provide the same personal information listed in 2.2 (Details required for Membership). This includes proof of temporary ACT address and permanent interstate address. 4.13 Staff (S)Staff currently employed by the ACT Library and Information Services (ACTLIS) are eligible for full membership. The loan period is consistent with the services provided by the Government and Assembly Library to other ACT government staff. 4.14 Teachers (T)Teachers currently employed at Erindale and Tuggeranong Colleges only. It should be noted that materials purchased by the Colleges for teaching purposes may be loaned for longer periods to teachers. The respective Colleges set these loan periods. 4.15 Membership DeletionMemberships, which have not been used for more than two years, are removed from the database in July/August of each year as part of regular database control. Memberships with outstanding fines or loans are not deleted. 5. Item Loan LimitsItem loan limits and loan periods are determined by borrower type. eg B (Braille) and types of material borrowed eg. DVDs. Items in high demand may have a reduced loan period. 5.1 Ordinary membershipA member may borrow an unlimited number of items at any one time. The ACT Public Library encourages all family members to join the Library and to use their own membership card. There is no provision for family membership. 5.2 Group MembershipGroups can borrow an unlimited number of items 5.3 Digital videodisc. DVD.The loan period for DVDs is two weeks. Items may be renewed for two weeks, providing they have not been requested by another member. 6. Loan Periods6.1 Standard Loan Period I 6.2 Material borrowed from the Mobile Library I 6.3 Short Term Loan Period I 6.4 Temporary Not for Loan I 6.5 Home Library Service A registered member may borrow material on production of a current library card, unless this right has been suspended. Library members must produce their current library card in order to borrow items. Other proof of identification cannot be used to borrow, and may only be used as proof of identity to replace a lost or stolen card. 6.1 Standard Loan PeriodThe standard loan period is for 4 weeks (28 days). The standard loan period for DVDs is 2 weeks (14 days). 6.2 Material borrowed from the Mobile LibraryItems borrowed from the Mobile library have a 4 week (28 days) loan period. 6.3 Short Term Loan PeriodA short-term loan period of a maximum of 2 weeks (14 days) may be set for high demand material. These items may not be renewed. All items with three (3) or more requests are considered to be in high demand and are subject to the short term loan period. 6.4 Temporary Not for LoanA temporary “Not for Loan” status may be set for high demand material in the Erindale and Tuggeranong colleges. This status will allow items in high demand to be used in the respective libraries only. 6.5 Home Library ServiceHLS members have a loan period of 6 weeks (42 days). 7. Loan extensions (renewals)A member who needs to keep an item for longer than the standard loan period may extend the loan for a further loan period except if the item is requested, or it is on short-term loan. Items can be extended up to three (3) times. A loan extension can be done at the library, by phone or through the Internet. An overdue item can be renewed, except if the item is requested, or it is on short-term loan. However overdue fees accrued on the renewed item will apply. Most library users rely on selecting from the range of material on the shelf and assume that material on loan will become available for their use after the normal loan period has expired. The library aims to encourage members to return the item as soon as possible after the member has finished with it, to enable others to use the item. This achieves maximum benefit to the community. Extending loan periods conflicts with this aim as it has the affect of minimizing the opportunities for maximum use. Alternatively, some members will find that due to work and other commitments, and the length or complexity of some material that an extension is required. Reconciling these two conflicting aims is difficult. Accordingly, a limit of three extensions has been set. 8. Overdue Loans8.1 Fines I 8.2 Grace days I 8.3 Overdue notices I 8.4 Suspension of borrowing rights Overdue loans include material that has been returned or renewed after the date due. 8.1 FinesA fine of 20 cents per item per day is levied on ordinary members for overdue library materials, with a maximum fine of $6.50 per overdue item per loan period. Fines are not levied on overdue materials lent to housebound, senior, sight or print impaired, pensioner or child of pensioner, and Book Start members of the library. However all other charges still apply to these borrower categories. Fines are levied on the individual items that have not been returned or renewed by the due dates. Items that are extended when they are already overdue will still incur a fine for the period between the due date and the commencement of the renewal period. In setting fines, two issues had to be balanced. If fines are set too low, members are likely to regard the fine as insignificant and more of an annoyance than a real incentive to get the material back into circulation. On the other hand, if the fines are set too high, it is likely that items will not be returned and the fines left unpaid. The fine rate and the level of the maximum fine provide a reasonable balance, and assists in making as much of the library’s collections available or in use for as much time as possible. 8.2 Grace daysA grace period of 4 days is applied to fines. This period is intended to provide members with a small margin of error when returning items and should not be used as an extended loan period. Items returned after the library has closed will be processed on the next business day of the library where they are returned. This grace period allows items returned after library closing, to be processed on the next business day. Items will incur the extra day(s) fines if they are already overdue when returned after closing, and processed on the next business day of the library. Grace days are an effective means of promoting customer service by not penalising members for small inadvertent delays in returning items. On the fifth day items will accrue a 20c per day per item fine. 8.3 Overdue noticesIt is the responsibility of members to return items borrowed by the due date. Overdue notices are sent out as a courtesy and to encourage the return of overdue items. The benefit to members is that it will remind them to return the item before a larger fine is incurred. The first overdue notice is automatically generated when an item is 14 days overdue and the member is informed that their borrowing rights have been restricted until the item is returned. The timing of this letter at 14 days overdue is because in many cases an overdue item is an oversight. A second and final notice is produced when an item is 42 days overdue. It will reiterate details on the initial notification and include information on the fines outstanding. 8.4 Suspension of borrowing rightsBorrowing rights are suspended when a library member has one or more of the following: an item overdue for more than 14 days fines and/or lost item payments of $15.00 or more that are outstanding for 90 days or more 4 or more lost items 4 or more unresolved items that have been claimed as returned Borrowing rights are reinstated once the reasons for suspension are resolved. A member who has a problem paying a fine may negotiate payment by instalment at the discretion of the Branch Library Manager. However no loans may be made until the amount of fines is below $15.00. If payments are not made as agreed, borrowing rights will again be suspended. 9. Appeals against fines and charges9.1 AppealsWhere a member considers that a fine should not apply, application can be made to have the fine reviewed. Library staff are not empowered to waive fines. The Financial Management ACT (no.22 of 1996) states that “The Treasurer may by instrument, on behalf of the Territory… waive the Territory’s right to payment of any amount payable to the Territory”. Members may apply to have their fines reviewed by the Department by completing the appropriate documentation at any library. Only 2 grounds of appeal are recognised: Incorrectly applied fine or charge. If the member believes that a fine has been levied incorrectly, they may apply to have the charges removed by using the Fines and Charges Levied in Error form. Extenuating circumstances. If the member believes that they have an extenuating circumstance that has resulted in a fine and they consider they should be exempt from the fine they may apply to have the charge removed by using the Request to Waive Fines form. While this is being assessed, a member’s right to continue borrowing is reinstated. 9.2 Disputed PaymentsMembers who believe or claim to have paid a fine/fee, which appears not to have been entered on their record, may request a review of the situation by completing the Fines and Charges Levied in Error form. 9.3 Claim ReturnedThe library has a process to assist members who claim to have returned items that still show as a loan on their library record. If the item is not found on library shelves the member may apply to have the matter further investigated by raising the matter with customer services officers. 10. Charges - other10.1 Lost/Damaged/Stolen items/Incomplete ReturnsWhen members join the library they agree to pay for lost, damaged or stolen items. Charges for these items are based on the actual cost of replacing the item. In addition to the cost of replacing the item, an administration fee of $6.10 is levied to cover the costs of ordering and accessioning the item. Replacement cost is based on the actual cost of the item as recorded on the library system. Overdue fines for lost, damaged and stolen items are not payable in addition to the item replacement cost and $6.10 administrative fees. If an item is subsequently found and returned in an acceptable condition, a member may request a refund on the cost of the item. The administrative fee is not refundable. 10.2 Replacement borrower cardsThe cost of replacing a lost borrower card is $2.55. This fee is to cover the administration costs involved in issuing a replacement card. 11. Interlending and Document DeliveryAll libraries use the interlending service to provide library members with a greater access to resources beyond those of the ACT Public Library. By participating in the network of Australian Libraries the ACT community is able to access library materials held throughout Australia. The cost imposed by the supplying library is paid by the member requesting the interlibrary loan. While costs vary, a borrower can expect to pay $13.20. However, the actual amount will depend on the service requested. Interlibrary loans are free of charge to sight impaired borrowers. 11.1 Resources supplied to other librariesThe library participates in the National Document Delivery Service. Items are loaned to other libraries for 8 weeks (56 days) with no option to renew. An 8-week loan period allows time for the delivery and return of the item to and from the requested library and time for their members to collect and use the item. The charge to other libraries is based on the average cost of supplying the items. The charges are $13.20 per item and $13.20 for each 30 pages of photocopied pages delivered. 11.2 Resources supplied by other librariesLibraries supplying items for our members have the right to specify the loan period of the particular item. The library can also request that the item be “for in house use only”. 12. Collections12.1 Reference collections (Ref) I 12.2 English Learning (EL) I 12.3 Refugee Dictionary Project I 12.4 College Audio Visual material (VCE / VCT) I 12.5 Music Scores (MS) I 12.6 Spoken Word Cassettes (SWC) I 12.7 Junior Literature (J Lit) I 12.8 Resources in other languages I 12.9 College Textbooks I 12.10 College Teachers Reference I 12.11 Reading Group Collection (RG) I 12.12 ACT Heritage Library The general collection is available for 4 week loan period. Specific collections may have a different loan period. 12.1 Reference collections (Ref)Reference collections in all libraries are not for loan. Some overnight loans are allowed at the discretion of the Branch Library Manager. 12.2 English Learning (EL)Items are loaned for 6 weeks (42 days). Items in the English Learning collection are lent to help ensure that those who are attempting to improve their literacy, or are learning English, have ample opportunity to use the material that the library provides. 12.3 Refugee Dictionary ProjectNew refugees to Canberra will be entitled to the long-term loan of a bilingual dictionary in their language. This loan period will be for up to 6 months and can be organised from Civic Library. 12.4 College Audio Visual material (VCE / VCT)Copyright provisions restrict the use of this material for loan and viewing to teachers of Erindale and Tuggeranong Colleges only. 12.5 Music Scores (MS)Housed at Woden Library Items are loaned for 4 weeks (28 days). 12.6 Spoken Word Cassettes (SWC)Housed at Home and Mobile Library Service Items are loaned for 6 weeks (42 days). This means: (a) a person without sight; or (b) a person whose sight is severely impaired; or (c) a person unable to hold or manipulate books or to focus or move his or her eyes; or (d) a person with a perceptual disability. Unless a member satisfies these criteria he/she is ineligible to borrow from the SWC collection. 12.7 Junior Literature (J Lit)Housed at Belconnen Library Items are loaned for 1 week (7 days). 12.8 Resources in other languagesItems are loaned for 4 weeks (28 days). 12.9 College TextbooksTuggeranong Items belong to the Tuggeranong College and are available for Tuggeranong College use only. Erindale Items belong to the Erindale College and are available for Erindale College use only. 12.10 College Teachers ReferenceTuggeranong (TF) Reference material restricted to use by Tuggeranong College staff only. 12.11 Reading Group Collection (RG)Housed at Belconnen Library. Items are loaned for 30 days. These items are not part of the general fiction collection. The books are restricted to Read Around Canberra participants and to private Reading Groups. A representative of the group reserves titles in advance with the Branch Manager of Belconnen Library. This material cannot be renewed, transferred or requested. 12.12 ACT Heritage LibraryLocated at Woden Library Items are loaned for three weeks (21 days) A small collection of material largely on the development and history and of Canberra from the ACT Heritage Library is available for loan. The collection is housed on level one outside the ACT Heritage Library.
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URL: http://www.library.act.gov.au/find/about/actpubliclibraryloanspolicy