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Library staff detail collections process and pause notifications to vendor Unique Management
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Summary
Library staff explained the overdue/lost-items process, fees and vendor role; the library has paused Unique Management notifications while consulting the City Attorney’s Office. Trustees asked how fees and holds affect borrowing and electronic access.
Library staff presented the library’s overdue and lost-items collections process and announced the city has paused notifications to the outside vendor Unique Management while staff and the City Attorney’s Office review options.
Deputy Library Director Katie Nye and Senior Librarian Katie Duperi walked trustees through the steps: most items check out for three weeks and may be renewed up to three times if there are no holds (a total renewal window of up to 84 days). If an item is not returned after the final renewal, patrons receive an overdue notice; 28 days after the final due date a second overdue notice is mailed, the item is marked “lost” in the system and a bill is attached for the library’s purchase cost plus a $6 processing fee. If the account remains unpaid 15 days after that second notice, the account, including a $10 recovery fee, may be referred to Unique Management for further recovery efforts.
"Once a patron’s account has been sent to collections, Unique Management will try to recover the lost item or payment via mail and phone calls," Duperi said, adding that, under the library’s contract, Unique does not report accounts to consumer credit bureaus and purges account information after three years.
Nye described why the library charges the $6 processing fee and does not accept replacement copies from patrons: vendor-supplied materials are processed and bound for durability and integrate with library systems, and adding an outside copy still requires staff time to process. "Even if you bring us a replacement copy, it still costs us time and resources to add that book into the collection," Nye said.
Trustees asked how fines affect borrowing privileges. Staff said accounts with balances greater than $25 are suspended until the balance is reduced below $25; the $10 recovery fee assigned when an account goes to Unique must be paid to return an account to good standing. Staff also said the block can affect some electronic resources: borrowing and in‑library computer/printing access and some digital platforms (Libby and Kanopy) can be restricted, while other databases remain available.
Director Suzanne Smithson told trustees the library has paused sending notifications to Unique Management while city staff review the contract and notification procedures with the City Attorney’s Office. "We have paused our notifications with Unique Management until we come to some solutions working with the City Attorney's Office," Smithson said.
The presentation noted operational protections in the current arrangement: Unique uses the national change-of-address database to locate patrons and, per contract, is prohibited from sharing personally identifiable information with third parties unless the city consents or the law requires it. Staff also said if a lost item is returned all associated library charges are removed, and the $6 processing fee is waived, though the $10 Unique recovery fee that Unique charges the library remains on that outside bill until recovered.
Trustees did not take formal action; staff said they will continue research and report back to the board.
