CA Library To Debut Netflix-Like “Fines-Free” Program
No free delivery, but Hayward will buy new copies if material requested lingers at home
Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 11/10/2009
- First program of its kind
- Starts at $2.99/month
- Could it raise $112,000 a year?
- 20% of cardholders get accounts blocked
A Bay Area library is about to test a Netflix-like model in which library users can borrow three items at a ti
me for $2.99 a month, five items for $4.99 a month, or up to ten for $8.99 month, with no late fees. (There’s no free shipping, however. Some libraries in New Jersey offer delivery by mail but still charge late fees.)
Sean Reinhart, acting director of the Hayward Public Library, CA, says the “Fines-Free” Library Loan Program, the first of its kind, aims to lure back library users who find their accounts blocked—20% of total users—and give up on the library.
(Hayward has a service population of 150,000, with a main library and a branch, and a collection of some 160,000 items. Here's a background memo [PDF] on the new plan.)
Rationale
“In my nine years talking to library customers on the front lines and in management I’ve learned that the vast majority of library users who get fined are basically responsible people who wanted to return their library books on time, but for whatever reason, didn’t,” Reinhart told LJ. "I know so many people who have given up on libraries either because they have too many fines, or because they want to avoid getting fined in the first place. The system doesn’t fit their schedule, so they don’t use the resource. So I asked myself, why can’t the library let people have a limited number of items for an unlimited length of time in exchange for a monthly fee, just like Netflix?”
While some among that 20% number do pay their fines—in FY09 Hayward collected $94,000 in fines and fees, with 90% of that overdue fines—most simply stop using the library, he said. (The library also charges a $20 billing fee on accounts with overdue materials for more than 45 days.)
“So far the reaction has been tremendously positive,” he said. Library users, city and library staff, and local and state stakeholders all had a chance to weigh in.
Details
Pricing was set partly by analyzing the cost of operating the program and partly by looking at Netflix and other services. There’s no differentiation as of now between media. The project is a pilot, and subject to change.
Customers can cancel their membership in the “Fines-Free” plan at any time; once a cardholder cancels, or fails to pay the monthly subscription fee, he or she would return to the standard circulation plan, in which most items circulate for 21 days (with a fine of 25 cents daily), and DVDs circulate for a week (with a fine of $1 daily).
The library will rely on e-commerce services that add a service fee per monthly transaction ranging from 30 to 43 cents—far less costly than relying on library staff.Reinart acknowledge that the library can’t estimate projected revenue, given the novelty of the program. If 2000 cardholders—2% of total—switch to the plan (at the $4.99 level), the annual net revenue would be about $112,000, he said. (The cost of buying replacement materials has not been fully calculated.)
He also noted, “It is understood that not all costs are to be recovered through fees, both from a practical standpoint and considering the public benefits to the community generated with the Fines-Free Program.”
Implications
And what if a cardholder wants a library book or AV item that another cardholder just keeps at home? The library will simply buy another copy—an extension of the principle that multiple copies of popular materials are bought to meet community demand.
The California State Library has provided a written opinion stating that the new plan is consistent with state laws regarding public libraries and equal access.
California State East Bay head librarian Linda Dobb told the Oakland Tribune that the policy might keep research materials away from the public too long. However, Reinhart said the library has few rare materials.
