Harvard libraries will no longer charge 50 cent per day fees on overdue books.
The change, one of several detailed in a post on the Harvard Library system’s website, went into effect on April 1. Though standard fees have been eliminated, fees for overdue recalled material have been raised from two dollars a day to three dollars a day, with a 45 dollar maximum.
“The goals of these changes are to improve the student experience and embrace a ‘One Harvard’ approach for borrowing material across Harvard Library,” wrote Steven Beardsley, Harvard's associate director for access services administrative operations and special projects, in an email.
Andrés M. López-Garrido ’18 praised the library system’s decision, noting his own history of incurring stiff fines for overdue books.
“I had over 100 dollars in overdue fines for books I checked out last summer for a research project, and I completely forgot to return them,” said López-Garrido. “I flipped out when I found out, but luckily I was given a waiver.”
Others are a bit more wary about how students will use this new freedom.
“I am interested to see how many books make it back to the library,” said Jad Maayah ‘20.
Beardsley wrote that he hopes the new approach will cause students to focus more on their work.
“We expect that this will allow students to devote more time to their research and coursework,” he wrote.
The library system also announced the institution of semester-long loan periods for Harvard affiliates.
“Undergraduates are now able to check out regular loan items at all Harvard libraries for a semester, eliminating the need to renew books every twenty-eight days from Lamont, for example,” Beardsley said.
—Staff Writer Sahar Omer can be reached at smomer@college.harvard.edu.
Read more in News
Harvard Divinity School Concludes Year-Long Bicentennial CelebrationRecommended Articles
-
Applications OverdueAlthough applications for degrees in June are now overdue, Seniors who have failed to file their application forms may do
-
JUNIOR AND SOPHOMORE THEMES.Themes not dropped into the wooden box in Sever 3 on the day on which they are due, must be
-
Communications(We invite all men in the University to submit communications on subjects of timely interest. To the Editors of the
-
Outsourcing the Harvard LibraryBy outsourcing our work to vendors, Harvard is ceding the independent function of the library as a curator of information in the service of knowledge to a handful of private corporations whose main interest lies in maximizing profits.
-
Committee Scrutinizes Access to Course Books