![]() ![]() The treatise was first published in 1881, two years after Maxwell's death in 1879, although the cranberry-coloured copy now back at the New Bedford library is not considered a rare edition of the work, Melo said. "Someone obviously kept this on a nice bookshelf because it was in such good shape and probably got passed down in the family.” "This came back in extremely good condition," New Bedford Public Library Director Olivia Melo said recently. The book last checked out about 119 years ago has been returned to the Massachusetts library after it was discovered among books donated to the libraries at West Virginia University. Plein contacted Jodi Goodman, the special collections librarian in New Bedford, to alert her to the find. Plein found the treatise and noticed it had been part of the collection at the New Bedford library and, critically, had not been stamped "Withdrawn," indicating that while extremely overdue, the book had not been discarded. The discovery occurred when Stewart Plein, the curator of rare books at West Virginia University Libraries, was sorting through a recent donation of books. It would take 119 years and the sharp eyes of a librarian in West Virginia before the scientific text finally found its way back to the Massachusetts library. Masterton District Council has also stopped issuing overdue fines since the Covid-19 lockdown, and a spokesperson said this would continue for this financial year, and be reassessed mid-2021.On Feb 14, 1904, someone curious about the emerging possibilities of a key force of nature checked out James Clerk Maxwell's An Elementary Treatise On Electricity from the New Bedford Free Public Library. Robertson said moving away from fines was a growing trend overseas, and she would watch with interest how things go in Selwyn. "Our fines comprise of just over 20 percent of our current revenue and that's a considerable amount of funding." "To have something to offset the revenue that we actually bring in from library fines from another area of revenue, for example, I really don't have anything that could substitute for that," Robertson said. The head of libraries and information, Carolyn Robertson, agreed dropping fines could be beneficial, but said in the current financial climate she could not see how the library could make up the shortfall. "It's actually the fear of fines that stops them coming, and we don't want that."Īt the moment Wellington City libraries is owed $504,402 in overdue fines, and one single customer, with the highest in overdue fees, owes $1193.59 in fines.Īt the beginning of August, Christchurch City Council libraries were owed $69,163 in overdue fines and in the last year the council collected $315,916 in fines. She said libraries were supposed to create a level playing field, but fees prevented people from accessing the resources. And it's the others, where it's everything, that's where our concern is." "For some people $2 to $5 is nothing, for a fine or a hold," Beaton said, "but to others it's everything. She said it was the people who needed the service the most who were put off by fines. ![]() On one side you have libraries saying we are the champion of democracy and we're glad to help, and on the other side you have these punitive fines that actually prevent people returning to the library." And I think if libraries are truly for everyone, they need to get rid of fines. "There is no evidence that fines actually make people bring books back on time. She said fines did not ensure people return books on time anyway. Moen said if they got more readers, and attracted people who had been put off going to the library due to old fines, it would be worth it.Īssociation of Public Libraries executive director Hilary Beaton is welcoming the move, and said funding from fines was always uncertain anyway, because if everyone returned their books on time the library would get nothing. She said the move would cost the library some income, with the usual expectation of the library collecting $50,000 a year in fees and fines, dropping to $10,000. We're not going to let those lost books stay lost." ![]() So there will be some revenue generation from that. So part of my proposal to council was to be very active in trying to get those books back, and if they've been lost to get them paid for. "Colleagues, when they are not serving, will start phoning people with outstanding books. She said she hoped it would encourage more people to make use of the library, and she was not worried that books would never be returned. The head of Selwyn District Council's libraries, Nicki Moen, said during the lockdown their library was one of many which dropped overdue fines, and the council had now been given the backing to continue that for a two-year trial. Libraries within Canterbury's Selwyn District are undertaking a two year trial to drop fines for overdue books (file picture). ![]()
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