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People tend to behave differently with libraries than typical economics might suggest. People view the library as a shared resource, something the community own
by 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 agoI 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.