Published: June 25, 2008 03:33 pm            

Good book, nice chair

Stillwater library board votes $136,000 for new furniture, doesn’t raise late fines

The Stillwater Public Library Board voted Tuesday to allocate $136,669 toward new furniture throughout the library.

Library Director Lynda Reynolds said that the current furniture has been in the library for 14 years and, after normal wear and tear, a change is needed.

“Actually, most of the damage is just from regular use,” Reynolds said. “Everything we are looking at is commercial grade, so if the price tag surprises you that’s why. It’s not furniture you are going to put in your home.”

The project will probably go up for bid in September and possibly be completed at the end of December.

The board also took action on an item dealing with discounts on renting two or more library rooms for a specific event. The board decided to offer customers a 10 percent discount on the total room bill as an incentive to rent two or more rooms.

Sherri Irving, Stillwater Library Board chairwoman, said she thought the project would be a good way to give back to customers without losing too much revenue.

“I think this is something we should do.” Irving said. “We are a public body funded by the taxpayers. I think the PR we will gain with this is worth a lot more than the lost revenue.”

Lastly, the board decided not to take action in regard to changing library fines, in response to a patron’s complaint. Stillwater has a flat fee of 25 cents per day for all materials. In comparison to other libraries, the Stillwater library has a higher rate for books, but a much lower rate for audio visual materials.

The library also has a free Web site, Library Elf, where patrons can go and sign up and put in their library card number. Then they will get an e-mail notice three days before there book is due, a notice on the day that it is due and a notice the day after.

Reynolds also said library staff is allowed to waive fines if a patron has an extenuating circumstance where they are unable to pay.

“We do work with people who tell us about their personal circumstances who have trouble paying the fines,” Reynolds said. “I would say in comparison with other regional libraries our fines are right in line with them.”

The next scheduled meeting will be Aug. 26 in the public library north conference room.

        

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