Resources Billing and Replacements

Replacement charges

The Rice-Aron Library does not charge overdue fines for items in its collection. However, borrowers are billed for the replacement of library items in the following cases:

• When items are not returned upon the borrower's graduation or separation from Marlboro College (e.g., withdrawal, dismissal) or upon the expiration of borrowing privileges (for alumni and townspeople)
• When items are not returned within 10 days of being recalled for another borrower
• When items are lost
• When items are returned in unsatisfactory condition
• When a library patron causes damage to library furniture or equipment.

Graduating seniors and students withdrawing from the college must return all library materials upon graduation or in order to complete the withdrawal process.  Bills for items that are not returned are transmitted to the Student Accounts office at the end of each semester.

If a patron believes that a charge has been assessed in error, they should contact the library immediately.

The person to whom library items are checked out assumes responsibility for any replacement charges and/or fees. If someone other than the borrower is in possession of a billed library item, it is up to the borrower to arrange for its return and/or to seek restitution for charges that the borrower ends up paying the library.

Items from other libraries (interlibrary loan or reciprocal borrowing partners) are subject to the fines and replacement policies of the lending library.

Fees

In addition to replacement costs, a $5.00 billing fee and $5.00 processing fee is charged per billed item. Billing fees reflect the cost in staff time of sending multiple bill warnings to borrowers and searching the library stacks and reshelving carts for items prior to issuing bills, as well as actually creating and sending bills to Student Accounts. Once a bill has been issued, the billing fee is not normally refundable. Processing fees reflect the costs of re-cataloging, re-labeling, and re-processing replacements for billed items. If the library copy of an item is returned within the window for refunds (see Refunds, below), the processing fee will normally be refunded.

Refunds

The library replaces missing and billed items as borrowers indicate a need for them. Once the library has purchased a replacement for a billed item, a refund is not available.

If items are returned within six months of being billed and have not yet been replaced, borrowers may be refunded replacement charges and processing fees.

Reporting lost/damaged items

If a borrower loses or damaged a library item and notifies the library before being billed for it, the library will waive the billing fee and give the borrower the option of replacing the item with a new or like-new copy, if doing so would be less expensive than paying standard library replacement costs. Once a bill has been issued for an item, however, regular replacement charges and fees apply.

How replacement charges are determined

Whenever feasible, the library charges what it would actually cost to replace a billed item at the time it is billed (usually determined by the cost of an identical or equivalent item via Amazon or, when not available via Amazon, another vendor with which the library has an established relationship). When a replacement copy cannot be located for sale via the library's vendor partners, the following default charges apply:

Revised Dec. 2010