TPL Home > About the Library > Policies > Circulation and Collection Use Policy

Circulation and Collection Use

Approved: January 29, 1998

Revised: March 9, 2010

		Policy Objective
		Underlying Principles
		Policy Statement
		Scope
		Specific Directives
		Schedule
		Accountability
		Appendices

Policy Objective

The purpose of the Toronto Public Library (the Library) Circulation and Collection Use Policy is to:

• make materials widely available to the community;
• maximize use of collections and services;
• facilitate requests for materials;
• retrieve overdue materials.

Underlying Principles

The Circulation and Collection Use Policy reflects the Library's mission and values.  The Public Libraries Act (Chapter P.44, Section 23) permits the Library to impose fees and make rules. 

Fines, fees, loan periods and borrowing limits are all reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that they are reasonable, effective and in line with nearby libraries and with other large urban Canadian public libraries.

Policy Statement

The Library's Circulation and Collection Use Policy will:

• provide a mechanism for ensuring the equitable access and fair use of collections and services;
• determine rules and regulations that protect Library collections and services in a manner that is consistent with the principles of financial accountability and the Library's responsibility to its stakeholders.

Scope

The policy applies to all users of all Toronto Public Libraries.  It covers activities relating to the registration of Library users and the borrowing and use of Library collections and services.  It sets:

• conditions and use of the library card;
• borrowing privileges, responsibilities and restrictions;
• a schedule of fines and fees.

Specific Directives

1.1       Eligibility
Any person who lives, works, attends school or owns property in the City of Toronto or who has an immediate family member living at the same address, who owns property in the City of Toronto,is eligible to receive a library card with borrowing privileges without charge, upon presentation of acceptable identification and is entitled to use the Library's services.

A Non-Resident is an individual who does not work, live, own property or attend school in Toronto and may borrow materials from the Toronto Public Library by paying a non-refundable fee.  Payment of a household fee entitles each member of the non-resident household to a library card for the quarter covered by the payment.

1.2       Customer Categories

A Child is an individual from birth up to and including age twelve (12).

A Teen is an individual from thirteen (13) years up to and including age seventeen (17).

An Adult is an individual who is eighteen (18) years old and older.

1.3       Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy
To obtain a library card, customers must disclose name and address information to staff. Customers age seventeen and under must disclose date of birth.  Certain additional personal information may be supplied in whole or in part and is not a requirement for registration or re-registration.

• A parent or guardian of a person up to sixteen years of age may exercise the right of access to the child's personal information in the customer or circulation databases.
  

• An individual customer who has requested and been assigned supplementary library card privileges and who has signed the accompanying consent form, voluntarily gives a right of access to the personal information in his/her customer and circulation database records to the individual documented on the consent form.

• When requests for personal information in the customer and circulation databases are received from offsite, the number of the library card or the customer database identification or the customer database identification number, and name and address will constitute acceptable identification. A Personal Identification Number (PIN) must be entered by individuals in order to access their own personal circulation records through the public access catalogue where available.

• In accordance with Section 32(g) of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the staff member in charge of the branch at the time has the authority to release personal information to a law enforcement agency in Canada to aid an investigation undertaken with a view to a law enforcement proceeding or from which a law enforcement proceeding is likely to result.  The information requested must be documented on the form created for this purpose.

• In accordance with Section 32(I) of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the staff member in charge of the branch at the time has the authority to release personal information in compassionate circumstances to facilitate contact with the next of kin or a friend of an individual who is injured, ill or deceased.

• The circulation records of Home Library Service customers are retained with their permission.

• Items returned remain on a customer's record until the end of that working day.  Information messages on a customer's history record are deleted after 7 months.

• Borrowing activity information is retained in the customer database as long as the circulation record indicates that an item remains on loan or fees remain unpaid, subject to the purging schedule 1.12.

• Backup files of customers' borrowing activity are temporarily retained for the purpose of restoring data in cases of system failure and file corruption.  These files are subsequently destroyed on a scheduled basis  

1.4       Library Card - Conditions and Use

All applicants must provide acceptable identification to obtain a library card.

A customer must present his/her library card or confirm customer status to borrow materials and access some collections and services of the Toronto Public Library.

The library card is not transferable (i.e. Library privileges apply to individuals only and may not be transferred from one individual to another).

Customers are entitled to one library card only.  A second library card may be issued for children of divorced/separated parents, a separate card for use with each caregiver.

The library card is the property of the Toronto Public Library Board, and must be returned on request.

Loss or theft of a library card must be reported immediately.  Card holders are responsible for any materials borrowed on their cards until loss or theft is reported.

Change of address, name or phone number must be reported immediately.

The library card must be renewed annually, with confirmation of relevant information.

Customers, thirteen and over, must sign the card upon registration.

The parent/guardian of a child (from birth up to and including age 12) must present identification to register the child for a library card and sign the child's card.  If the parent/guardian is not present, the child will be given a registration form for the parent/guardian to fill out and sign. 

In signing the card, or, in the case of children, the registration form, the signer accepts responsibility for the choice, use and return of all materials borrowed and for charges on items that are overdue, lost or damaged

All applicants providing acceptable name identification only, and additional proofs required of non-residents claiming eligibility for a library card, will be limited to borrowing one item on the initial visit.  Full borrowing privileges will be granted upon presentation of full identification requirements.

A charge is levied for the replacement of a lost or stolen card. (Schedule 5.2)

Inactive customer records are purged on a regular basis provided there are no outstanding fines, fees or items.

1.5       Limits
The number of items which a customer may borrow may be limited on the basis of local demand and material supply.

Remote access to electronic products may be restricted based on licensing agreements.

Toronto Public Library establishes and reviews annually, the maximum number of items which may be checked out on a customer's card at any one time. (Schedule 2.1)

An extended (holiday) loan period may be granted.  Restrictions may be imposed on the number and type of material available for extended loan.

1.6       Loan Period
A customer must check material out properly, treat it with care, and bring it back on time so that material will be available to other customers.

A standard loan period of three weeks exists for materials borrowed except for those materials for which special loan periods have been established.  (Schedule 3.1)

1.7       Renewals
Most library materials may be renewed if there are no holds for the item.

Renewals may be requested in person, by telephone, by automated telephone renewal service or by catalogue access in branch or remotely.  (Schedule 3.2)

1.8       Holds
Most library materials may be reserved in person or by telephone, or by catalogue access in branch or remotely.  (Schedule 2.3)

1.9       Interlibrary Loan
Interlibrary loan is made available to registered customers of the Toronto Public Library and to external libraries upon request.

The Toronto Public Library does not charge customers for interlibrary loan services unless charged by the lending institution, in which case the charge will be passed on to the customer.  (Schedule 5.6)

Materials from other library systems are subject to loan conditions specified by the lending library.

1.10     Returns
Materials borrowed from branches of the Toronto Public Library may be returned to any branch of the library system.

Exceptions may exist for some unique collections.

1.11     Damaged/Lost Items
All customers are responsible for library materials borrowed from any branch of the Toronto Public Library.

The Library will charge a replacement cost for material which is long overdue, and for material which is damaged or lost. (Schedule 5.3 and 5.7)

The replacement cost will be the invoiced price or default cost.

Replacement in kind - or substitution - for lost or damaged materials is not accepted.

In the event that items are damaged, the Toronto Public Library reserves the right to determine the amount of repair or replacement charges.

The Toronto Public Library reserves the right to retain library materials even in cases where full replacement cost has been paid.  If an item that was reported lost and paid for is subsequently found, the replacement cost, less any overdue fines accumulated to the date the item is returned, will be refunded upon presentation of material, within six months of original payment.  The maximum fine deducted shall not exceed the original payment.

Damaged/lost items outstanding are purged from the database on a regular basis: 

• when the last use of the library card is more than two years and the total balance owing is less than $100;

• when the last use of the library card is more than five years and the total balance is greater than $100.

Toronto Public Library is not responsible for damage to any equipment or software incurred during the playback of any material, e.g., videos, cassettes, compact discs, CD-ROMS, DVDs .

1.12     Overdue Fines
It is the responsibility of the customer to ensure that materials are returned on time so that they will be available to others.  To encourage prompt return, the Board has established fines as a deterrent to late return of materials.  Customers will be notified of materials that are overdue.

Fines are charged to all registered borrowers for the late return of library materials.  No fines are charged for days when the library is closed.  Fines will not be applied to the following library customers:

• Home Library Service customers
• Board members
• Volunteers
• Special Needs Customers

Fines are calculated according to customer categories.  Adults pay adult fines on all materials borrowed including teen and children's materials.  Teens pay teen fines on all materials borrowed including adult and children's materials. Children pay children's fines on all materials borrowed including teen and adult materials. (Schedule 4)

The parent/guardian of a child up to and including age 12, is responsible for fines and charges for late, lost, or damaged material borrowed by the child. 

Fines outstanding are purged from the database on a regular basis:

• when the last use of the library card is more than two years and the total balance owing is less than $100;
• when the last use of the library card is more than five years and the total balance is greater than $100.

1.13     Suspension of Borrowing Privileges

Borrowing privileges are suspended in the following cases:  (Schedule 1.2)

• prescribed limits to the amount of fines or fees a borrower may owe the library have been exceeded
• prescribed limits to the number of admissible overdue items have been exceeded
• prescribed limits to the number of admissible items  reported returned have been exceeded

If these limits are exceeded by a Library customer, the stop service provision in the circulation system will be implemented until the borrower restores his/her circulation record to within the acceptable range.

1.14     Use of a Collection Agency
A collection agency will be used to collect unpaid fines and recover materials from adult borrowers when the amount owing is $50 or more.  An additional fine will be charged to those customers whose accounts are turned over to a collection agency.

Schedule

1 - Borrowing Privileges and Restrictions

1.1     Video and DVD

• restricted video/DVDavailable to persons 18 and over
• adult accompaniment to persons 14 and over
• all other video/DVD available to all customers

1.2    Suspension
When the customer has: 

• more than 10 items overdue, or
• more than $30 in fines or charges, which includes both unpaid fines on returned materials and fines accruing on items not yet returned or
• more than 10 reported/claimed returns

2 - Limits

2.1    Maximum number of items checked out (including books, CDs, cassettes, books on tape, videos, DVDs, CD-ROMs) at one time

50

2.2    Maximum number of holds at one time

60

2.3    Holds

• book - yes
• Best Bets - no
• video - yes
• DVD - yes
• New release Feature DVD's - no
• CD - yes
• cassette - yes
• periodical - no
• CD-ROM - yes
• eContent - varies as determined by licensing agreement
• music score - yes
• picture collection - no

3 - Loan Periods

3.1    Loan Periods

• book - 21 days
• Best Bets - 7 days
• language learning video - 21 days (including literacy)
• other video - 7 days
• DVD - 7 days
• New release Feature DVD's - 7 days
• CD - 21 days
• cassette - 21 days
• periodical - 7 days
• CD-ROM - 21 days
• eContent - varies as determined by licensing agreement
• music score - 21 days
• picture collection - 42 days
• art print - 21 days
• Items provided by Home Library Service - Extended loans as determined by City-wide Services

3.2    Renewal

• book - 2 standard loan periods
• Best Bets - none
• language learning video - 2 standard loan periods(including literacy)
• other video - 2 standard loan periods
• DVD - 2 standard loan periods
• New release Feature DVD's - none      
• CD - 2 standard loan periods
• cassette - 2 standard loan periods
• periodical - 2 standard loan periods
• CD-ROM - 2 standard loan periods
• eContent - varies as determined by licensing agreement
• music score - 1 standard loan period
• picture collection - 1 standard loan period
• art print - 2 standard loan periods

4 - Fines

4.1     General
Adult/Senior - $0.30 per day, per item up to a maximum of $12.00 per item for each loan period.

Teen - $0.15 per day, per item up to a maximum of $6.00 per item for each loan period.

Child - $0.10 per day, per item up to a maximum of $4.00 per item
 for each loan period.

Each renewal is considered another loan period.
           
4.2      Use of a Collection Agency - $10

5 - Charges 

5.1     Non-Resident                                                $25/household/3 months

5.2     Replacement card                           
$2.00/adult; $1.50/teen; $1.00/child

5.3      Lost items                             
Invoiced price or default price.  The default price to be based on the previous year's average retail price taken from the Acquisition system.

"Reported/Claims returned" items change to "lost" status after 120 days.

5.4      

5.5       Computer printing                  

$ .20 (see note)
Note: Lower rates for copy cards.

5.6       Interloan                               
Charge as applied by the lending library

5.7       Damaged  Materials            
Invoiced price or default price

5.8       Refund 
Limit of 6 months.  Full refund of invoiced price but not fines.  The maximum fine deducted shall not exceed the price paid.

5.9       Cases
Cassette -_$ 1.00
CD - $ 1.50
Video - $ 2.00
DVD - $ 2.00

5.10    NSF cheque              
current bank charge

5.11     Other

art print bag - $22.00
plastic pouch - $1.00
storyteller kit bag - $15.00
toy bag - $6.00
pattern - $2.00
audio book binders - $3.00
diskettes - $1.50

6 - Book Sale Prices

6.1       adult hardcover fiction - $ 1.00

6.2       adult hardcover nonfiction - $ 1.00

6.3       children's hardcover - $ 1.00

6.4       paperbacks - $  .50

6.5       trade or catalogued paperbacks - $1.00

6.6       periodicals/magazines - $  .50

6.7       phono discs - $  .50

6.8       cassette tapes - $.  50

6.9       compact discs - $ 2.00

6.10     video cassettes  - $ 2.00

6.11      DVD - $ 2.00

6.12      reference/special individually priced (including art prints & other materials)

7 - Replacement Prices                                    
Invoiced price. When that information is not available, the default price to be based on the previous year's average retail price taken from the Acquisitions system.    

8 - IntelliSearch

8.1       Research Service - $100.00/hr; $25.00 minimum charge plus applicable Access copyright licence fees and/or actual database supplier charges                                                                      

8.2       Rush Service - $25.00 to be added to Research Service fee.

8.3      Fax Service - $7.00 flat fee (5-25 pages), $15.00 flat fee (over 25 pages)

9 - Photographic and Digital Reproduction and the Digital Design Studio

           
9.1 Photographic Reproduction

           
9.2 Digital Reproduction

           
9.3 Digital Design Studio

Accountability

1. The City Librarian and the Directors are responsible for ensuring the Policy is implemented and enforced.
   
   
2. The Circulation Policy Committee is responsible for recommending policy changes

Appendices

Appendix 1:  References

Child and Family Services Act,R.S.O. 1990, Chapter C.11, Section 184

Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, Chapter M.56

Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, c.32

Toronto Public Library. 2004.  Urban Stories: The Next Chapter: Toronto Public Library Strategic Plan, 2004-2007.  Toronto:  Toronto Public Library Board.

Appendix 2:  Definitions

Board Member - A member of the Toronto Public Library Board

Customer and Circulation Databases - Electronic files containing personal information and borrowing records

Customer Database Identification Number - Unique number automatically assigned by the automated system to each customer record.

Home Library Service - The Home Library Service is provided for people who cannot go to their libraries due to age, illness or disability for at least 3 months and/or who have perceptual disabilities. 

Inactive Customer Record - A customer record that has expired and has not been used for one year

Interlibrary Loan - A service that allows the borrowing and lending of materials between library institutions.

Remote Access - Online access to Toronto Public Library from locations outside of the library

Special Needs Customers - Persons with disabilities who may apply to have fine exempt status if they are unable to return materials within a set period of time because of a disability.

Volunteers - Individuals with six months or more of service as a volunteer in one of the Board’s officially recognized volunteer programs, for the duration of said volunteer service.

Updated on: March 9, 2010

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