Patrons everywhere are notorious for not returning materials when they should, and your church library is no different than any other in that respect. The amount of paper which can be generated by tracking who has which overdue item can be prohibitive, so using a computer to keep records makes perfect sense. In fact, computers make overdue notification much simpler in many ways. Form letters can be generated to send to borrowers and can be filled in, either by hand if you don’t have many overdues or by what is commonly called a “mailing list” of names.
In this case, the names included on the list will be your wayward borrowers, and once the name is entered, specific letters can be reprinted again and again until the material is returned.
Your word processor can help you remind delinquent borrowers of the items you would like returned, in very creative ways. Send your patrons graphical postcards, and if you have access to the Internet and your patrons’ email addresses, remind them with silly email postcards (look on the web for e-postcard sites such as www.bluemountainarts.com, and send a “you are missed” card addressed to the book or item itself). You may not get your book back, but you will get your point across in a positive way.
If you create a special flier with fill-in-the-blanks spots for relevant information, remember to include :
• the date the note was printed and sent,
• the title of the item(s) you would like back, and
• include a statement about your fine policy (if you have one) such as the following:
“Overdues
The Librarian does not charge fines for overdue items, but when items become more than 2 months overdue, they will be considered lost and the borrower will be billed for replacing the item.”
The Librarian does not charge fines for overdue items, but when items become more than 2 months overdue, they will be considered lost and the borrower will be billed for replacing the item.”
Keep track of when each reminder notice was sent, and set yourself a “not later than” date (for example, five months after the first notice was sent) to declare the item either missing or lost. Remember too, that if you buy a new copy of the missing item that each copy must have a different (new) accession number. Maintaining a list of unreturned items in either electronic or print format will help you with routine tasks such as inventory, weeding and collection use.
