5526204 Public Library, D.C. - Notice of Proposed Rulemaking - Amendment to 19-803, Fines and Penalties

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PUBLIC LIBRARY

NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING

 

The District of Columbia Public Library Board of Trustees, pursuant to the authority set forth in An Act To establish and provide for the maintenance of a free public library and reading room in the District of Columbia, approved June 3, 1896, as amended (29 Stat. 244, ch. 315, § 5; D.C. Official Code § 39-105 (2012 Supp.)); Section 3205 (jjj) of the District of Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978, effective March 3, 1979 (D.C. Law 2-139; D.C. Official Code § 39-105 (2012 Supp.)); Section 2 of the District of Columbia Public Library Board of Trustees Appointment Amendment Act of 1985, effective September 5, 1985 (D.C. Law 6-17; D.C. Official Code § 39-105 (2012 Supp.)); the Procurement Reform Amendment Act of 1996, effective April 12, 1997, as amended (D.C. Law 11-259; 44 DCR 1423 (March 14, 1997)); and Section 156 of An Act Making appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1999, and for other purposes, approved October 21, 1998 (112 Stat. 2681, Pub. L. 105-277; codified at D.C. Official Code § 39-105 (2012 Repl.)); hereby gives notice of its intent to amend Section 803 of Chapter 8 (Public Library) of Title 19 (Amusements, Parks, and Recreation) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR).

 

The Board of Trustees has appointed the Chief Librarian/Executive Director, through D.C. Official Code § 39-105(a)(10) (2012 Repl.), to establish rules and manage the day-to-day operations of the library.  On May 27, 2015, the Board of Library Trustees of the District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) voted to adopt the proposed new amendment(s) to the DCPL regulations regarding Fines and Penalties in §§ 803.1, 803.2, 803.3, 803.4, and 803.6 of Chapter 8.  The proposed amendments will provide the DCPL the ability to eliminate fines and penalties for students age 19 and under.

 

Chapter 8, PUBLIC LIBRARY, of Title 19, AMUSEMENTS, PARKS, AND RECREATION, is amended as follows:

 

Section 803, FINES AND PENALTIES, Subsections 803.1 through 803.4, and Subsection 803.6, are amended to read as follows:

 

803.1               Adult borrowers, 20 years of age and older, shall be charged a long overdue fee of five dollars ($ 5) for each item overdue thirty (30) days or more.

 

803.2               All borrowers, 20 years of age and older, shall be assessed lost and damaged fees on all material types including children’s materials and books that are overdue sixty (60) days or more, as follows:

 

(a)                Hardcover Books;                                                       $ 20.00

 

(b)               Paperback Books, CDs, DVDs,                                  $ 15.00

            and Audiobooks; and

 

(c)                Magazines.                                                                  $ 8.00

                                                             

803.3               Adult borrowers, 20 years of age and older, of materials and books are responsible for the payment of both lost and damaged fees and the long overdue fee, if applicable.

 

803.4               Adult borrowers 20 years of age and older who incur outstanding fees totaling forty dollars ($ 40.00) or more on their library account will be blocked from checking-out or renewing books and other library materials, until the account is in good standing.

 

803.5               When library materials are ten days overdue the Library shall send a notice to the borrower.

 

803.6               [RESERVED]

 

803.7               The librarian or designee can at his/her discretion forgive fines for library materials. This option can be utilized when the borrower provides reasons such as: hospitalization, death in family, incarceration, fire, flood, or other catastrophic personal hardship.

 

803.8               The librarian or designee is authorized to cancel fines when the borrower claims that the library material was returned and it is found in the library or the library was closed due to an emergency.

 

 

Any person desiring to comment on the subject matter of this proposed rulemaking should file comments in writing not later than thirty (30) days after the date of the publication of this notice in the D.C. Register.  Comments should be submitted to Grace Perry-Gaiter, DCPL, General Counsel, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, 901 ‘G’ Street, N.W., 4^th Floor, Washington, D.C.  20001. Telephone: [phone].  Copies of the proposed rulemaking may be obtained by writing to the address stated above.