Lowell Public Library
Board Policy Manual
Section: 50.010
Circulation Policies
The Lowell Public Library systems follow in ordinance with the Evergreen Indiana Circulation Policy as put forth by Evergreen Indiana Library Consortium.
Evergreen Indiana Account
An account is required in order to check out material and access certain services at an Evergreen Indiana Member Library. When an account is created, a library shall be provided to the account owner. A physical card or digital replica displaying the correct account number (barcode) is necessary for a patron to check out materials. Indiana residents whose identification has been validated by those standards described in an Evergreen Indiana Member Library’s circulation policy are eligible to establish an Evergreen Indiana account based on their residency within a library service area and subject to certain limitations (see below, Loss of Privileges). An Evergreen Indiana account is not transferable.
Patrons of Indiana public libraries not participating in the Evergreen Indiana Library Consortium may establish an account at an Evergreen Indiana Member Library pursuant to reciprocal borrowers and other agreements. Users from non-participating Indiana libraries may not have the same privileges as Evergreen Indiana resident patrons and such accounts may be suspended at any time without notice.
Individuals able to prove their residence within or payment of property taxes on property located within a library’s service area are eligible to establish a “home” Evergreen Indiana account including a green Evergreen Indiana “resident” library card or custom library card from their home library with green “Full Consortial Access” approved branding. Proof of identity and residence for the purpose of account establishment and regular renewal shall be required.
Individuals not residing in an Evergreen Indiana Member Library district may be eligible to purchase or otherwise obtain an Evergreen Indiana member library account as a non-resident, PLAC, reciprocal borrower. Non-resident accounts and PLAC accounts are issued to those individuals residing outside the library district who pay to subscribe to accounts with full access to library materials and services. Reciprocal borrowers may have limited access to services and material. Owners of these limited access accounts should be given a blue Evergreen Indiana card or custom library card with blue “Local Access Only” approved branding which indicates that their borrowing privileges are limited to the issued library.
The establishment of an account at an Evergreen Indiana Member Library includes receipt of a library card denotes acceptance of responsibility for all fines and fees and for payment for lost or damaged material. Patrons are advised to contact their home library to report a lost or stolen library card.
Patrons moving from one Evergreen Indiana Member Library district to another will be subject to the identification and proof of residency requirements put forth by their new home library district.
Minors
An adult may register a minor child for an account at an Evergreen Indiana Member Library. A minor is any patron who under the age of 18. Registering a minor child for an account at an Evergreen Indiana Member Library as well the receipt of or allowing the minor to receive a library card denotes acceptance of responsibility for all fees, fines, and payment for late, lost, or damaged materials charged on such minor’s library account. Minor’s library cards must be linked to sponsored adult’s card. Borrowing privileges may be limited on specific items as the discretion of the library such as but not limited to Adult Feature Films.
Purging of Inactive Library Accounts
Patron accounts will be automatically marked inactive when the patron’s privilege expires. Patron accounts that do not reflect fines or fees, items checked out or claims returned activity will be deleted automatically three years after being marked inactive.
My Account
Library patrons will be given a PIN upon registration for an Evergreen Indiana Member library account. This PIN shall function as an updatable password for entry into the My Account area oat the Evergreen Indiana catalog.
Borrowing Privileges
In most cases, a maximum of 100 items may be checked out simultaneously on an Evergreen Indiana Member Library account. Borrowing limits and loan durations are established by the library in conjunction with the Evergreen Indiana Library Consortium.
Holds and Transits in Evergreen Indiana
Account holders with full consortium access may place holds on any Evergreen library’s holdable material. Account holders with local access only may place holds on only those materials owned by the library established their account.
Holds may be placed on most items in any Evergreen library. Patrons will have one week after the hold is filled to pick up the held item.
Most Evergreen Indiana accounts may have 30 unfilled holds in the system.
Evergreen Indiana does not allow holds to be placed on the following items by any patron:
- Reference Materials
- Bestsellers with the no-hold designation
Evergreen Indiana does not allow Evergreen Indiana library patron to place holds that would generate Intra-Evergreen Indiana loans on the following categories**:
- Art
- Bestsellers
- Some CDs*
- Some DVDs*
- Equipment
- ILL
- Kits
- Media
- New books and audiobooks
- New videodiscs
- Replica
- Reference
- Special Collections
- Software
- Software- Gaming
- Videocassettes
*Some member libraries provide for the transiting and remote circulation of their video discs (DVD, Blu-Ray, and 4K and CD music)
**A library may place a six-month or three month age protection on new items. Local patrons may place holds on associated titles
These items may be borrowed by an Evergreen Indiana account holder. It is the responsibility of the patron to proceed to the owning library and check out the material. The patron may return such material to any Evergreen Indiana library for transit to the owning library unless those items are prohibited to be transported based on InfoExpress policies. An Evergreen Indiana member library may refuse to accept items belonging to another member that are ineligible for transit through InfoExpress.
Patrons may place their own holds through the library catalog by logging into My Account, and may select their pickup location and notification method. The software will refuse hold requests which do not conform to Evergreen Indiana policy. Patrons may choose any pickup location for holds.
Patrons who Evergreen Indiana account are “blocked” or “barred” will not be allowed to place holds until their privileges are restored.
Loan Renewals
Renewal request may be made in person, by phone, or via the online catalog “My Account” feature. Additionally, items may be eligible for autorenewals. Certain categories of material are not eligible for renewal. If a “Hold” has been placed on an item, it may not be renewed manually or automatically. It is the patron’s responsibility to keep track of items and due dates.
Lost and Damaged Materials
Materials that become “lost” or “damaged” may have the price of the item and any outstanding fines and fees, plus a processing fee of up to $10.00 per item, assessed to the borrowing patron’s account. Processing fees are established by items owning library. Patrons may be encouraged to notify the library that an item is “lost” to stop the accruing of additional overdue fines. Fees for the cost of lost/damaged materials and ny associated processing fees shall belong to the library owning those materials. Any assessed overdue fines shall belong to the circulating library. An item overdue longer than 45 days (28 days for fine free libraries) shall be automatically marked as “lost.”
Paid-for Items
Materials which are billed to the patron at the full replacement cost of the item, e.g. “lost” or “damaged” holdings, become the property of the patron once the bill has been paid in full. Unpaid-for “damaged” materials that are not a danger to the library or library staff may be held for 6 months pending payment; after 6 months, with payment still due, the item shall be subject to disposal. Unpaid-for “damaged” material that present the possibility of harm to library staff or facilities may be disposed of immediately.
Recovering Lost Items and Refunding Payment
No refund will be issued to patron for a “lost item” for which a patron has paid in the case that the item is found. In addition, no fines/fees and third party collection fees will be refunded.
Loss of Privilege
A patron’s access to materials and some services may be limited due to overdue materials or fines and fees. Most patron accounts will be blocked, and no new circulation services may be obtained with it I the patron has 15 or more overdue items or owes $10 or more in unpaid fines and/or fees. Patrons may renew overdue circulation materials until their account reaches the maximum fine threshold of $10 or more in unpaid fines and/or fees. The number of overdue materials and/or the amount of fines/fees that will result in a patron being “blocked” is calculated at the consortium level and not at library level. An account may be “blocked” if related group member accounts are “blocked.” A patron may also be “barred” if circumstances warrant.
Fines and Fees
To encourage the return of materials by their due dates, the Evergreen Indiana libraries have established a schedule of fines and fees. Overdue material incur fines of $0.25 per day per item with a maximum of $10.00 or the cost of the item, whichever is lower. Materials such as Hotspots incur fines of $5.00 per item with a $125.00 maximum.
Fine-free Libraries
Libraries may choose not to levy local circulation fines. Member libraries shall, however, pursue whatever measures are feasible and expeditious to recover monies related to materials classified as “lost” or “damaged.” This policy shall only apply solely to those items borrowed on-site at participating member libraries including items transited from other Evergreen Indiana libraries or IN-SHARE. Items borrowed directly from another Evergreen Indiana library using a participating member card shall be subject to the policies of that library. This is an administrative setting which may be changed up to one time annually. Materials borrowed under this program will be set to “lost” once the items are overdue by 28 days.
Juvenile Fine-Free Libraries
Libraries may choose not to levy local circulation fines only for juvenile account holders at their library with the exception of materials classified as “equipment”. The same stipulations for fine-free libraries apply to juvenile fine-free libraries.
Paying Fines and Fees
Evergreen Indiana library fines and fees may be paid at any Evergreen Indiana Member Library. Patrons may pay all or a portion of overdue fines. A patr5on’s account will remain blocked or barred until the fines and fees are paid or the patron has resolved the matter with the particular library to restore his or her privileges. A patron may be (or remain) “blocked” if group member accounts are “blocked.”
Overdue Notices
Overdue notices are sent out as a courtesy for the Evergreen Indiana Member Libraries. Failure to receive notices does not exempt patrons from the responsibility for payment for library material or overdue fines and fees.
Collections
All member libraries are entitled to seek recompense for their materials when lost and/or damaged by a patron regardless of the patron’s home library. Some Evergreen Indiana Libraries have contracted with third-party vendors for collection services. If third-party collection services are used, a fee for collection services will be also added to the patron’s record.
Based on Evergreen Indiana Circulation Policy updated April 2024
Policy Revision Dates
Revised January 1, 2013
Revised: March 20, 2023
Revised: October 15, 2024