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Library boosts late fees by 150%

By M.V. Moorhead

Take a guess how many loaned materials have been checked out from the Tempe Public Library and never returned. According to a recent report, nearly 12,000—that’s right, 12,000—items in the library’s collection are overdue. And not just a little overdue, either, but more than three weeks past the scheduled return date.

The library has decided that it’s finally time for a crackdown:

Effective next month, the Tempe Public Library’s standard overdue fee will increase to 25 cents a day from 10 cents a day.

The reason for the increase, according to library officials, is to “encourage library users to return their materials on time so that they will be available to others.”

If the late-fee increase seems extreme, officials are quick to remind that Tempe Public Library has the longest standard check-out period in the Valley. The majority of items in the collection may be renewed twice if no one else is waiting.

Library users can avoid overdue fees and renew their items by visiting the library’s Check-Out Desk; by using a 24-hour telephone renewal system at 350-5656; or via the Internet at http://catalog.tempe.gov and clicking on ‘My Millenium.’

Complete information and renewal options may be found on the library’s website at http://www.tempe.gov/library/admin/new fines.htm”

Editor’s note: The whole thing may remind you of Stephen King’s eerie story The Library Policeman, found in his collection Four Past Midnight. Never read it? You can probably find at Tempe Public Library—provided, of course, that some inconsiderate bookworm hasn’t kept it past the due date.

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