What About Lost or Damaged Books?
"Mistakes are lessons of wisdom." -- Hugh White
Students
are responsible for the care of the books which they check out
from our library. When books are returned damaged, the student is
responsible
for paying to replace the damaged book. Students should always look
through the books they check out. If they notice any damage bring it to
the attention of the librarians as soon as possible. When books are
lost, the student
is responsible for paying to replace the lost book. We encourage our
students
to care for and return all library books by their due date. Students are
allowed three weeks after the date of check out to return their books.
However,
books can be renewed for an additional period of time if needed.
Here is a photo of an actual damaged book from the TJMS
Library. What do you think happened to it? The correct answer is
provided at the bottom of this web page. Scroll down to the bottom of the page
for the answer.
No one wakes up in the morning with the goal of
losing or damaging a library book. Accidents happen. At the TJMS Library, we
assume that all of our students do their best to take good care of the
materials they borrow from the library. So here's what to do if your family
runs into any of these problems:
Oh no, we a lost a library book. Now what?
If the book has been lost for less than four weeks, we ask you to keep looking
for it. See a list of
places to look for lost library books.
Your child will receive a verbal friendly reminder in homeroom and/or
Lit.
Conn/Language Arts to remind him/her to keep looking for the missing
item. Once an item is overdue, overdue notices will
be distributed by your child's homeroom teacher. After three weeks of
attempts to recover overdue/missing/lost items fine notices will be sent
home for items deemed lost. (Items overdue by 4 weeks or more before
May, one week or more in May/June.)
After four weeks have passed since the book was due, the book is officially
considered lost. At that point, your family must choose to either return the
missing item or pay the replacement cost. It is our hope that no one ever
has to pay for a lost book because our ultimate goal is always just to get our
original book back!
The best case scenario is the return of the actual missing library book. If
that is not going to happen, please provide the library with either the cash
(correct change only, please) or a check (made out to Thomas Jefferson Middle School
Library) to cover the replacement cost. If an exact copy of the
missing item cannot be obtained by the librarian, a similar title will be
substituted.
Once payment of the replacement cost is made, your money is deposited
into the
bank. Check payments cannot be refunded, cash payments will be refunded
until June 15. If the missing item is located after a check payment,
it becomes the property of your family. If the missing item is located
after a cash payment, before June 15, return the item to the library and
a refund will be made.
Please be aware that library books are becoming more and more expensive. The
average cost of a hardback children's book is now $25.00, when the district's
reprocessing fee is included. Many parents experience "sticker shock"
when they are presented with a bill for lost library books.
It is also important to know that the library cannot accept used or new copies
of missing items in place of paying the replacement cost. Many of our books are
purchase with special library bindings to make them more durable for heavy use.
For this reason, school district policy only permits library staff to accept
cash or check payments for the replacement of lost items.
Please contact Ms. Collins (TJMS's Library Paraprofessional) if you need
further assistance with this problem. Ms. Collins handles all of the
circulation issues for our library. Her email is tcollins@fairlawnschools.org.
Oh no, we accidentally damaged a library book.
Now what?
During library classes, your children learn to protect their books from the
four most common ways library books end up damaged:
- babies
and toddlers -- who are too young to know how to take care of books
properly
- food
-- keep library books away from the kitchen table, please!
- liquids
-- cups spill, juice boxes explode, rain and puddles develop, all of these
are dangerous for library books
Students
are instructed to keep their library books in safe places to avoid these
problems. Yet despite their best intentions, occasionally a library book is
accidentally damaged.
If this happens to a book checked out to your child, please reassure your
child that he or she will not "get in trouble" in the library. Explain
that he/she will have to tell Ms. Collins about what happened and that your
family may have to pay to replace the damaged item(s). Ms. Collins
stresses that with all students but many students feel very guilty and
upset if their library books accidentally become damaged, despite her many
reassurances.
Send the damaged item back to school with a note explaining what happened. Ms.
Collins will then take a look at the damage and see if she can repair the
problem. If not, your family will need to pay the replacement cost. Each
damaged book will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Once again, if you must pay replacement costs you may pay by cash
(correct change only, please) or by check (made out to: Thomas Jefferson Middle
School Library). Money paid for damaged items cannot be refunded.
If you have any further questions, please contact Ms. Collins at
tcollins@fairlawnschools.org.
Oh no, we mistakenly returned a TJMS book to the
wrong library. Now what?
If your family uses several different libraries, this may happen very easily.
Once you have discovered this problem, please contact the library where you
believe you may have returned the item from TJMS. The barcodes used by the
school district's libraries cannot be read by the barcode scanners at Maurice
M. Pine Public Library (or any BCCLS library) -- so the public library's staff
catches these mix-ups. They will eventually mail the school district's book
back to the proper school.
Also, please send a note into school to explain to Ms. Collins what has
happened, alerting her to the situation as well. If the book is not eventually
returned to the TJMS Library, your family may still be responsible for paying
the replacement cost of the missing item.
Sometimes students mistakenly return Public Library items to the TJMS Library.
We catch this problem almost immediately at school since Public Library barcodes
cannot be read by our school's library system, so we tend to notice these books
right away and get them back to the correct borrower.
Answer to the question at the top of this page: this
TJMS Library book was damaged by a critter chewing on it.
_____________________________________________________________________________
“This information is shared through the courtesy of Becky Collins, Park Forest
Elementary School Library Web Site, State College, PA.”