The Mercer Public Library is FINE-FREE.
The Mercer Public Library’s mission is to provide access to materials and services to the entire community. We believe that overdue fines are a barrier to library access. Therefore, the Mercer Library will not charge overdue fines for late materials to any patron who returns their library materials in undamaged condition. Patrons will still be charged for lost or damaged items.
In order to make library materials available to the community as efficiently as possible, library patrons should respect the due dates on all items and are encouraged to renew items that they wish to keep past their due dates. To assist patrons, the library shall generate courtesy notices and overdue notices. Overdue notices are sent as a courtesy reminder, and the library will not be responsible for notices that are misdirected. Patrons may choose to have reminders and notices sent by email, SMS, or automated phone call. In order to limit the time and expense of sending notices, first- and second-level overdue notices will not be sent via letter.
- A first-level overdue notice is generated when the material is one week overdue. First-level notices will only be sent by email or SMS.
- A second-level overdue notice is generated when the material is two weeks overdue. Patrons will be sent the second-level notice by email or SMS.
- Any materials more than four (4) weeks past due will be considered lost and will be billed to the patron at the current replacement cost plus a $5.00 processing fee. A replacement fee notice will be sent by email or by letter. If the value of the item is unknown or if the item is irreplaceable, the processing fee plus a charge equal to the value of the lost item or the cost of an equivalent item, whichever is higher, will be assessed. If the patron returns the item in good condition, all replacement and processing fees will be waived.
- A patron with $5 or more in charges on their library card due to lost or damaged items shall not be permitted to check out any additional items.
Lost or Damaged Materials
If materials are lost or are damaged so as to be judged by the library as being unsuitable for the collection, the patron must pay the replacement cost. Notice of these charges will be sent to the borrower by letter. If the value of the item is unknown or if the item is irreplaceable, the processing fee plus a charge equal to the value of the lost item or the cost of an equivalent item, whichever is higher, will be assessed.