AG 2001 08 20 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Cabarrus County Public Library 27 Union St. North, Concord NC 28025 Tel. 704-920-2050 Fax 704-784~3822 Memorandum Date: To: From: Subject: August 10, 2001 Blair Bennett, Finance Director Tom Dillard, Library Director Request to create new non-resident patron category and associated fee This summer, the library circulation team reviewed circulation policies including the various patron categories. Through this review, the team concluded that the existing patron categories - resident, non-resident, and temporary - are adequate to satisfy most of our system's circulation requirements. It was determined that there may be a need for an additional category. Our current basic non-resident category provides a library card to non-residents in neighboring counties for a period of one year and for a fee of $10.00. During the past two years, we have experienced use by patrons who, for work-related reasons, might reside temporarily in Cabarrus County. These patrons are primarily workers in the construction and entertainment industries. They are different from the existing non-resident category in that they do not officially reside in a neighboring county (those sharing a border with Cabarrus County). Many in this category reside out-of-state. It is with this group that we have experienced an increase in non-return of materials. To address this problem, we request that the Library be allowed to create a new patron category for non-residents who are living in Cabarrus County for a short and usually set period of time. These patrons would receive Library borrowing privileges for a fee of $25.00 per year. They would be allowed to check out only one item at a time and could not check out any other materials until the checked-out item was returned. The fee of $25.00 represents the average replacement cost of an adult non-fiction book including processing costs. During the past year, circulation staff at the Concord Library and the Kannapolis Library have reported that this patron user group has numbered under 100 and that it will vary significantly relative to construction projects or entertainment events that occur in the County. We do not know if this proposal will be successful in addressing this problem. It is possible that items checked out by these patrons may not be returned but the replacement cost would, in most instances, be covered. If you concur with this proposal, I request that you submit it to the Board of Commissioners for their consideration at their next meeting or at a meeting that you deem to be appropriate. Should the Board agree, we will implement this policy change immediately.