My Take on Fines (and why we need something better).

PEOPLE ARE STEALING FROM THE LIBRARY! Everyday, in every library across the world (maybe a little exaggeration there) people steal from the library. Seeing as how you pay for and are a community owner of the library, they are, by extension, stealing from you! Why are you putting up with it?

As I've mentioned in my other post, libraries have fines as a method for ensuring equal access to public materials. If you damage a library item, you have to pay for it. If you lose a library item, you have to pay for it. If you are late bringing a library item back, you have to pay for it... maybe, sometimes, depending on who's working that day and what the item is and how many times you've returned other materials late. Oh yeah, and if you smile or have good bartering or lying skills. Now, I don't think these fines work. Let's examine two reasons why.

First, it is extremely hard to explain to people why they have to pay money when they turned a book in late if no one else wants it. On top of that, often all they had to do to save money was call or go online and renew the item. The theory behind this is very philosophical, and hard to wrap your head around. The practical side of this is just plain silly. These are the fines that I have no problem waiving.

Second, once patrons reach a fine level that prevents them from checking out (or rather they must pay more money than they are willing in order to check out) they simply quit coming to the library to check things out. Someone with a $30 fine will probably just let that sit and nothing will ever come from it until many years later when they need the library again. In these cases, often times this fine is waived due to age and lost information from every new records management system the library has used over this timespan.

Neither one of these are stealing, though the second reason often coincides with library theft. When I did mention stealing before, admittedly much like a local news broadcast will lead with how the dirt on the bottom of your purse could kill you, I was a little misleading. Let me define the theft of which I wrote. This is not the "shrinkage" that retail stores deal with. This is not shoplifting and pocketing of DVDs and Cds that bypass security and simply disappear. Instead, I mean people check out items and never bring them back. Most libraries have those patrons with hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of fines for "lost" materials. In my book, whenever someone borrows something and never returns it, they stole it. This is the type of theft that goes on everyday, and no one seems to care!

The only punishment these thieves receive is to limit them from using library materials at home. They can still come in and read our books, sit in our chairs, use our restrooms, check their e-mail on our computers, etc., even though they stole from us and we know it! This is really why fines don't work. We need to treat these people (ok, only those that don't pay for what they've lost. Many of these people will pay or replace the item.) just as if they stuck the DVD in their backpack and bolted out the door. They are theives, plain and simple. Why doesn't anyone see this?!

Oh, Venezuela!

The people of Venezuela have recently taken steps to pull themselves up to the level of rural, depression era Kentuckians who "were living lives similar to their ancestors, with no indoor plumbing, electricity, telephone service or radio access."

According to the BBC's story, a University in Venezuela is providing library books to the mountainous farming villages via pack mule. If you follow links, you would already know that this is not a novel idea, as the report claims, but a direct theft from Roosevelt's alphabet
legislation.

This isn't the funny part though. The best part is that there are plans to put laptops on the mules! Way to go Venezuela! Fight the image of your land as a third world country by putting computers on mules! I actually laughed out loud when I read this. I have no doubt that is program is backed and promoted as a successful vision by every idiot in charge of the country.

I can't help it, but isn't this putting the cart in front of the... well, mule? If you want internet access, BUILD A BUILDING! Forget delivering new technology via the domesticated animal. If you want to leap into the 21st century, you can't drag big parts of the past with you. If you can afford wireless internet modems in the banana trees (that's not a joke either, read the story!), then you can afford a small hut to put the computer in.

Why do we hate Snitches?

Well, why do we hate tattle-tales?
It would seem as if they perform a function that benefits all of society. The informer. The stool pigeon. The rat fink. None of these conjure tales of heroism, community service, or courage. Why is that? I feel no differently than most when confronted with these people. Why do I want to punish the kid who comes and tells me that his friend (?) is bypassing our computer reservation system to his advantage? Why do I, deep inside, say "good for him, he beat the system!"

Why, in movies, do we cheer for the bank robber, and loath the coconspirator who prevents the money from falling into the wrong hands?

Libraries, or at least public one's, are rife with such stoolies. Having to deal with them every day, I think I've formulated and answer. Personally, I hate these little snitches because their motivation derives completely from a selfish sense of injustice. They don't tell on someone because they are doing something wrong. They tell on someone because they don't want them to get away with something they got caught for! If they can't do it, no one can. This is the motivation of the tattle tale.

There is also the motivation of reward. They think if they inform then they will be rewarded. Often this is the case. I'm not sure how I feel about these people. I think I can understand this a little better. This, however, is not the motivating factor behind the library tattler. The problem with these tattlers is that the temptation, once a level of trust is established, can lead directly to unfounded accusations.

If I were to waive fines for those who told me of rule infractions, I know that it would take no time at all for lies to be told for personal gain.

Maybe, just maybe, this is the underlying feeling in society when it comes to informers. Either they are selfish crybabies who don't want anyone to have fun if they can't, or they are lying cheats who will make you look bad for a buck.

Now that I've pegged down my view of the problem... anyone got a solution?