Many students return books to Middleton Library expecting them to be checked in, but some patrons claim the library lost the books they returned.
Dean of Library Sciences Jennifer Cargill said library patrons who accuse the library of losing books more than likely still have the books.
“I used my PAWS account to see if the books were checked in,” said Joann Ramezanzadeh, College of Basic Sciences administrative specialist. “I found that one of my books had not been.”
Ramezanzadeh said she returned two books to the drop box at the main entrance of Middleton library.
Ramezanzadeh called the circulation desk to notify them about the error on her PAWS account.
“They accused me of not returning the book,” Ramezanzadeh said.
She said library circulation department suggested to her that she may have left the book of Persian poetry somewhere else.
Ramenzanzadeh thought circulation was wrong, so she continued to check her PAWS account every day to see if her book had been found.
She also said she called the library at least three times.
After a week, her PAWS account showed the book was checked into the library, Ramenzanzadeh said.
Ramenzanzedh said she was not notified by the library that her book was found.
Ramenzanzedh said she mentioned her situation to fellow staff members, and some of them claimed to have the same problem.
One faculty member still receives bills for a book that supposedly was returned, Ramenzanzedh said.
Ramenzanzedh said the faculty member has a $500 bill for six months of overdue books.
The faculty member refused to comment on the situation.
Now, Ramenzanzedh said she checks in her books at the circulation desk.
Yet, Cargill said most returned books do not get lost.
Cargill said both the library and patrons rarely misplace books.
Cargill also said the library receives some complaints from patrons about books that have yet to be removed from their PAWS accounts.
“It doesn’t happen very often,” Cargill said.
She said normally patrons tend to think they returned the book, but it usually turns up in their car trunk or where they hang out.
The library will continue to search for the book until it is found, said Cargill. The books usually are found.
“We don’t accuse people,” Cargill said. “We tell them that they need to keep looking.”
The University Libraries Web site encourages library patrons to appeal fee charges through online forms.
Library department heads review appeal forms and then propose a solution.
The Web site lists overdue fee charges for regular books at 35 cents per day, the late charge for short-term borrows and journals is 75 cents, and the maximum late fee is $15.
According to the Web site, the lost book charge consists of a charge for the replacement of lost items and a processing charge of $30. The processing charge includes a $5 fee that is non-refundable, even if the book is found.
Cargill said the length of an appeal varies, but the library likes to get them over with as quickly as possible.
“If they want to file an appeal, we strongly encourage it,” Cargill said.
Cargill also she is not aware of any appeals at the moment because most appeals are settled at the circulation desk.
Another reason for the misplacement of some books is patrons may have turned them in where they should not have, Cargill said.
Cargill said this usually happens with reserved books.
According to the University Libraries Web site, materials and books listed as reserved are selected by faculty for students to use.
These books are supposed to be turned in to the reserved desk and not the drop box.
When the books are not turned in to the right place, they will not be handled properly, Cargill said.
Reserved items have a late fee charge of $1.20 per hour.