Hello, everyone!

Late fees and due dates can be uncomfortable to discuss and enforce as a desk volunteer, yet they are massively important to keeping the CEL running as usual. Therefore, I want to use this email to empower you all to handle this subject with empathy, while also providing you tips on how to be firm on our needed library rules without feeling like a villain.  I also want to share some new guidance that will hopefully address some confusion we’ve received from volunteers and our users.

New Guidance

• For all members, we have a maximum overdue fee of 50€.
• When users return their late items, they may accrue a fine of more than 50€. Please only charge them 50€, make a note of the family’s name and user ID in the volunteer notebook, and we will remove any excess charges from their account.
• If any family has a fee this large, they cannot check out new items until their fee is paid.
• Frances currently monitors member accounts that have a number of overdue items, so do not send out overdue emails unless directly prompted to do so.
• If you have talked to a family about fines being forgiven or they did not have cash that day to pay their fine, you can make a note of this on their user account.
  • To do this, click on the “Borrowers” button on the main homepage of the Library Administrator and navigate to the family’s name on the list.
  • Use the “Quick Edit” tab found on the righthand side of the screen to add a note in the comments section.
  • These comments can be viewed when their card is scanned to check out an item by clicking the “Details” tab under their account info.
• Do try to be understanding with users who have not received emails from us lately. There has been an issue with Microsoft, meaning most @hotmail and @outlook web-addresses have been automatically labelling all CEL emails as spam. Overdue fees are still being accrued for all users despite this.
• Please note that the overdue emails are a courtesy. For this reason, make sure you clearly communicate the due dates when checking out items for our members. I will go into more strategies on how to do this below 🙂

Renewals

Handling renewals is a normal part of every CEL shift. All of you have been doing a great job executing this task! There are a few minor pointers I want share to help this task go even smoother for you all.

• We can renew overdue items. Items that are currently overdue can still be renewed via email or phone call. This is the greatest leniency we provide our users. Be sure to check when the items were first checked out, though, since we ask that no users have out items for more than 6 months.
• Be sure to send an email confirmation when items have been renewed. There is a detailed description of how to do this in the volunteer guidebook. You can also make minor edits in the body of those email templates if there is anything important to share, such as the due date being on a holiday when we have limited hours or if the items have been out for more than 6 months. You can also find the family’s email address in their account details, if you need to send a separate email from Thunderbird.
• For every renewal request email, remember to move the email into the “Processed Renewals” folder on Thunderbird after you have renewed all possible items and sent the renewal confirmation email. This helps us track which emails still need processing and keeps the email inbox tidy.

Late Fee Guidance and Tips

Everyone has been doing wonderfully during their shifts, but I know there are times when collecting overdue fines can feel rude or cruel for you. People might not take this news well, either. Yet, there are a few small steps that I follow personally that have helped me avoid confrontation that I would like to share with everyone.

• My first tip when someone has a late fee is to communicate this clearly.
• Remind the member whenever they pay a fine that we deeply appreciate their support of the library. Their membership is literally what keeps our lights on, so don’t be shy telling them that all of the money they give to us goes directly back into the CEL. Everything from new books to the gas bill comes directly from their support. They should feel altruistic about their contributions, even if that comes in the form of paying a fine on damaged items or late books.
• The member might want to know which items have been returned late or their missed due date, both of which can be viewed under the “Loan History” tab on the Check Out/Check In screen once the user’s info is pulled up (next to the default window tab showing currently checked out items). Many times, this transparency defuses their concerns without further conversation.
• The user might express confusion over not receiving an overdue notice. Please remind them that this may happen. It is important to follow this up proactively, which will reassure the member that we can help them avoid fees in the future. The best things you can do are:
  • Double-check that we have the correct email on file. Some families might have provided an email that they do not check anymore or may want to shift the responsibility from one partner to another. This can be edited under the “Borrowers” button. If you update their email, please message Frances (info@celstuttgart.de) so that she can update our mailing lists.
  • If their email is accurate, remind them to check their spam folder. Our emails might mistakenly end up there. You can also inform them about our current unresolved issues with Microsoft’s update spam filtering if this applies to their email address. We have a help ticket in to resolve this issue, but we are uncertain when it will be resolved.
  • Always clearly state the due date when checking out items. Follow this statement with a question of whether they would like you to write that date down on a slip of paper, whether they would like to receive their check out list via email, if they want to add the due date to their personal calendar themselves, or other suggestions you may have for tracking this date. Make it clear that this due date is important!
  • If the member wants an email, there are two methods to follow. (1) There is an “Email Receipt” button on the right-hand part of the check out screen, which sends only items you have just added to their account. (2) There is also a slightly longer method that sends a full list of items they have checked out, including any renewed items or books left at home. This process is laid out via a new insert to the volunteer guidebook and is similar to sending a renewal email.
  • Finally, finish up by mentioning that they should send a renewal request to our email (renewals@celstuttgart.de) the day their items are due. Even if they think they will be coming in that day, this is a simple way for them to be proactive in avoiding fines. Even if they have an affected Microsoft email address, we still receive all emails, therefore this is the best option to help everyone avoid a late fine.
• The conversation might not end there, though. Always be patient when dealing with questions, as it goes a long way towards keeping the conversation civil. Don’t feed into frustration, even if you do not have answers yourself. If you need to, remind the user that you are a volunteer.
• You can reach out to myself (volunteers@celstuttgart.de or through WhatsApp), Frances (info@celstuttgart.de), or Liz (lizweiser@celstuttgart.de or through WhatsApp) whenever you do not have answers, communicating to the user who you are reaching out to. Think of this as handing the issue to the managers.

As always, if you have any questions, I will respond to you as soon as I can via email or WhatsApp. The Desk Volunteer group on Facebook is also a wonderful place to discuss topics with the entire volunteer team, so do not hesitate to post there and start a conversation. Just like how we need our members to keep the CEL running, we need all of you just as much 🙂

I know this was a long email, so thank you immensely for your time. Have a fantastic day!

-Candice Covington