4 ms·

If no fines, what prevents the people from taking the books and not return them again? Wanting to borrow new books? Ah, fair enough. (Just putting this out loud

by knocte 7y ago

If no fines, what prevents the people from taking the books and not return them again? Wanting to borrow new books? Ah, fair enough. (Just putting this out loud for people which didn't reach this conclusion yet, it took me a while.) PS: Maybe the real way to fix this is paying a deposit upfront when becoming a member of the library, which is not high price, just the cost of an average book. You'd get this deposit when you decide to stop being a member.

sircastor 7y ago
People tend to behave differently with libraries than typical economics might suggest. People view the library as a shared resource, something the community owns together. The resistance to returning the borrowed items more often comes from embarrassment or shame than it does entitlement or attempted theft.
- usrusr 7y ago
  I fully agree. If they could somehow reframe the fine into a positive contribution they would not have to resort to short term hacks [0] like zeroing the fine. How could that reframing work? Instead of free limited time lending plus optional fine after n days, make it a rental, but with the first n days free. If you return on time that's fine, but you're a freeloader then. Those who take their time with the books are the true supporters. Nobody will perpetually postpone returning because they feel uneasy about admitting wrongdoing (no matter how small). [0] I believe it's only short term because bad habits usually take time to develop. Long term, the negatives will outweigh the positives. The person who would systematically take advantage of zero fine doesn't use the library, yet.
hombre_fatal 7y ago
> You'd get this deposit when you decide to stop being a member. Now people will cancel their membership when they need their $15 back in fast cash. Probably the people who could use the library the most.
- zarq 7y ago
  Plus, the library is now a financial institution: it has to manage that money on behalf of its customers.
agentdrtran 7y ago
> paying a deposit upfront when becoming a member of the library Do you have any idea how many people this would stop from using library services?
- knocte 7y ago
  Mmm, good point.

by knocte 7y ago

sircastor 7y ago

People tend to behave differently with libraries than typical economics might suggest. People view the library as a shared resource, something the community owns together. The resistance to returning the borrowed items more often comes from embarrassment or shame than it does entitlement or attempted theft.

usrusr 7y ago
I fully agree. If they could somehow reframe the fine into a positive contribution they would not have to resort to short term hacks [0] like zeroing the fine. How could that reframing work? Instead of free limited time lending plus optional fine after n days, make it a rental, but with the first n days free. If you return on time that's fine, but you're a freeloader then. Those who take their time with the books are the true supporters. Nobody will perpetually postpone returning because they feel uneasy about admitting wrongdoing (no matter how small). [0] I believe it's only short term because bad habits usually take time to develop. Long term, the negatives will outweigh the positives. The person who would systematically take advantage of zero fine doesn't use the library, yet.

hombre_fatal 7y ago

> You'd get this deposit when you decide to stop being a member. Now people will cancel their membership when they need their $15 back in fast cash. Probably the people who could use the library the most.

zarq 7y ago
Plus, the library is now a financial institution: it has to manage that money on behalf of its customers.

agentdrtran 7y ago

> paying a deposit upfront when becoming a member of the library Do you have any idea how many people this would stop from using library services?

knocte 7y ago
Mmm, good point.