The Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library has contracted with Unique Management Services, a library collection agency, to help encourage customers with late and long overdue materials to return them to the library. The Jeffersonville, Ind. based company works exclusively with libraries throughout the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom, using its Gentle Nudge™ approach in the recovery of long overdue materials.

On Wednesday, October 14, Unique Management Services begins its notification process of contacting library accounts with long overdue items, requesting the return of the items and the payment of late fees.

The use of Unique Management Services supports the library’s initiative to encourage the return or receive compensation for borrowed materials that are long overdue. The company will focus on library card accounts that are classified as either “lost or long overdue.” Accounts with $25 in fees, and have not responded to previous notices from the library will also be handled by Unique Management.  An additional fee of $15 will be charged to the accountholder for this recovery service.

This action will affect a small percentage of library customers. These accountholders have not responded to library notifications sent by email and/or U.S. Postal Service, and are more than 60 days past the due date. The customer receives the first overdue notice from the library about seven days after the material is due. Additional notices are sent at 35 and 49 days after the original due date. Customers will have time to respond prior to being turned over for collection.

Customers who have signed-up for e-mail notifications will receive their notices in real-time, and do not receive paper notices. To sign-up for this service, go to http://catalog.tscpl.org.

When You have Items that are marked "Lost and Long-Overdue"
Your library account is in the lost and long-overdue category if you have a library item(s) that is 49 days overdue. At this time, you will receive the last notice from the library, charging for the unreturned item. This notice also encourages you to resolve your account or you will be turned over to Unique Management. Unique Management will contact you five times with a combination of three letters and two phone calls, asking you to resolve the problems associated with your account. The overdue item is now 151 to 199 days late, and you have received eight notifications asking you to return the borrowed material.  If you fail to respond to the notices, return the materials or provide restitution on your debt, the amount owed will be recorded on your financial credit report and your library account is blocked until resolved.

If you owe $25 or more, you can expect to be contacted by Unique Management and you will be charged a $15 recovery fee.

Those who have materials overdue beyond six months will be charged the replacement cost of the item, even if the items are found by the cardholder. In those cases, the customer can keep the former lost-long overdue items, but will have to pay all fees to restore their library borrowing privileges. This includes the $15 recovery fee for Unique Management.

Returning library materials is possible through many channels. Materials can be returned to the library, at bookmobiles or left in one of 15 book drops located around Shawnee County.  Many items can be renewed either at the checkout counter or at catalog.tscpl.org or by calling the renewal hotline at (785) 580-4424. The library is open from 9am-9pm Monday through Friday, 9am-6pm Saturday and noon-9pm Sunday.

The library is committed to provide excellent service and having materials available for the next customer is an important element of service. Information about the implementation of late fees can be found at:  www.tscpl.org/about/comments/late_fees_fequently_asked_questions/