Charging Patrons for Lost or Damaged Books A Survey of Practices in Four Nigerian Academic Libraries

• Published in: Library & archival security Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 67 - 74
• Main Author: Alao, I. A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Taylor & Francis Group 01.01.1999; Haworth Press
• Subjects: Academic libraries; Charges; Collection management; Damage; Exact sciences and technology; Fines; Information and communication sciences; Information science. Documentation; Information service management; Library and documentation centre management; Library materials; Losses; Nigeria; Sciences and techniques of general use; Surveys; Nigeria; Africa; Survey; User; Book; Loss; Question answering; University library; Damage; Collection development; Responsibility; Statistics
• ISSN: 0196-0075; 1540-9511
• DOI: 10.1300/J114v15n01_04

This article discusses the results of an investigation into the approaches to charging patrons for lost or damaged books in four academic libraries in Kwara State, Nigeria. It covers the ways in which charges were assessed, the circumstances in which charges might be waived, the responsibility for the setting and collection of charges, the difficulties encountered in the collection of charges and the libraries' responses to them. It also discusses approaches to replacing books for which charges had been collected, policies for lost or damaged books, and the medium through which patrons were informed about the policies. It concludes that the approaches were similar to the practices elsewhere and recommends further research to cover a larger number of Nigerian academic libraries to allow for the generalization of the conclusion on the situation throughout Nigeria.