Nobody Shares Better Than Us

Nobody shares better than libraries. How we move books around to bring the library user what they want is our true genius. The Single Integrated Library System (SILS) project will mean that people in Saskatchewan who have a public library card can get more choice in books and get the books they want faster because the participating libraries have agreed to share.

Any parent can tell you that one of the hardest things to teach a child is sharing. Sharing involves risk; it means that we might have to give something up without knowing whether we’ll like what we get. Children often complain that sharing is not fair, for example that they gave more than their friend. It’s hard for them to see the benefits of what we get when we all contribute what we can.

Libraries in Saskatchewan know the potential and power of sharing. We want everyone regardless of where they live to be able to get the books they want to read. To achieve this reality involves hard work, negotiation and comprise. The biggest change for the Chinook Regional Library is the introduction of overdue charges. If an item is late patrons are charged a small fee for not returning it on time. It is meant as a deterrent so that library users don’t keep things longer than they’ve agreed to keep them.

Everyone who uses a public library in Saskatchewan will pay the same charges. It seems fair that everyone pays the same penalties when they don’t renew or return library items. Overdue charges are a normal part of library service in most places and library users in Regina or Saskatoon have been paying them for years. I know some patrons are already upset at the thought of having to pay charges but remember you don’t have to pay overdue charges, you can renew or return on time and avoid them entirely. When you’re sharing books with other people (which is what you’re doing when you use the library) it’s important to be considerate. When you’re late returning a book it means that someone else can’t read it and if that book came from Saskatoon it means someone else in Saskatoon can’t read it after their library shared it with your library.

In our new library system (SILS) overdue charges are attached to the type of material borrowed. An adult could borrow children’s materials and not have charges on that material when it becomes overdue. A teen could borrow adult material and have fines at the higher adult material rate. The basic charges are as follows:

Children’s materials (including DVDs) — no late charges
Teen materials (excluding DVDs) — $0.20/day with a cap of $4.20
Adult materials (excluding DVDs) — $0.30/day with a cap of $6.30
DVDs & Video Cassettes — 1/day with a cap of $7

If a book is lost or damaged a patron will be charged for the cost of the book and a processing charge of $5.00

Not only are we are going to have the same fines as everyone else but we’re also going to share the same loan rules and overdue notification schedule. Why? Because having everyone borrow books for the same length of time and sending them same overdue notices makes sharing our books more logical and effective.

The new loan periods are:

Books, multilingual resources – 21 days
DVDs and Videos – 7 days
CDs – 21 days
Spoken word/talking books – 21 days
Magazines – 7 days, no renewals

On high demand items where there are 5 holds or more the loan period will be automatically shortened to 14 days.

The new overdue notice schedule is:
1st notice – 3 days after the due date
2nd notice – 17 days after the due date
3rd and final billing notice – 31 days after the due date – this is a print notice only

We realize these new policies mean big changes for Chinook Patrons. These new rules will be implemented on September 29th when we go live on the new system.

We promise to do our best to help you learn these new policies. As well, after the Chinook SILS launch there will be a six week period where we will waive these overdue charges to give patrons a chance to get used to the new system.

We hope you don’t find these changes too overwhelming and that you keep using the library. The public service that is the library is truly unique, what other public institution lets you borrow valuable items with only your agreement that you’ll return them? To share is noble, it’s a risk worth taking so that everyone can benefit.