University of Virginia Library

Book Amnesty

Alderman Library has many problems,
which are quite numerous and have been
around for some time. The most pressing
problem a library can have is not having any
books and we hope that the officials in
Alderman Library act before they have to face
that one.

There is nothing more frustrating that a
student can experience than to spend time,
first, thumbing through the card catalogue to
find the call number of a book, second,
finding the section where the book is
supposedly resting on the shelves, and finally
discovering that the book wasn't really there
at all. In a large city this situation isn't so bad
because you can usually go to a large city
public library or buy a copy of the book in
question at a bookstore, but in Charlottesville,
Alderman Library is all we have, and when we
can't find a book there, that's it.

There are only two times during the school
year when most of the books listed in the card
catalogue are also in the stacks: at the
beginning of the first semester, and at the end
of the second semester. During the greater
part of the year, it's only a gamble whether
you'll find the book you need.

Aside from graduate students keeping
books in their carrels, and faculty members
keeping books for the full 12 months they are
allowed, the greatest number of missing books
are quietly collecting dust in the forgotten
corners of dormitories, apartments, and
fraternity houses, never to be heard from
again. While the books are collecting dust, the
students who checked them out from the
library are accumulating library fines, some
never to be paid. In the meantime while the
bookkeepers are adding up the fines, the
students who may need the books are out of
luck.

There are many reasons why books are
kept overdue. Some students say they don't
have the time to go to the library, some
students leave books at home over vacation,
and some books are just misplaced and are
only discovered after they have compiled
enormous fines.

There are two methods by which library
fines are scaled. If you pay your fine when
you return a book you are charged $.05 for
the first ten days, $.10 for the second ten
days, $.25 for the third ten days, and $.50 a
day after 30 days. The maximum fine is $10.
If the library has to bill you the rates are
doubled and the maximum is $15. Under plan
A it only takes 42 days to reach the maximum
fine, and under the other schedule it takes 33
days.

Some students still keep books out after
getting notices in the hope that the library
will forget or make a mistake (which isn't a
bad bet), and others simply call the library's
bluff. If you have accumulated a large fine,
there is also the option of saying that the
book is lost and, in effect, buying it. Simple
economics teaches that it is better to spend a
couple extra dollars (conceivably less, since
the minimum fine for a lost book is $8) for
something, rather than shell out money for a
fine and get nothing. Either way, the library is
short books. At the end of the semester books
are collected when students' grades are held
until fines are paid. Usually, the library will
negotiate with students who have large fines
(in excess of $75 or so) and the full amount
isn't paid anyway.

The main job of Alderman Library should
be to provide books for the student body, not
collect fines. Perhaps an alternative to forced
fines would be a general amnesty on all library
fines, and allow students to turn in books so
they will be available.

Some would argue that students would
then horde books until the day of amnesty
but such a situation would be avoided if the
amnesty days were held infrequently and not
expected on a regular basis.

Spokesmen at Alderman said they have
talked about an amnesty, but decided against
it because it wouldn't be fair to the students
who have paid fines. No, it wouldn't be fair to
the students who have paid fines, but the
present situation is less fair to the students
who need books that are being kept out by
students who are trying to avoid paying the
fines. If calling an amnesty is the only way to
get books turned in, the library should try it.