Items that have never had a price assigned use $25.01 as the default item price [2007.12]. That is, if the price in the database is NULL, $25.01 is used when assigning Lost, Long Overdue, and Damaged charges. If the price in the database is 0 or blank, then no item price will be automatically used when assigning Lost, Long Overdue, and Damaged charges, and staff will need to add the price to the bill manually.

Items that are overdue for longer than 180 days are automatically changed to a status of LONG OVERDUE (unless the patron has been flagged for collections). The price of the item, plus an optional processing fee of up to $10 (set per library in the Library Settings Editor), is applied to the patron’s card. Overdue fines on the item are automatically voided.

See Payment Retention and Reimbursal regarding payments on Long Overdue Items that are accepted by a non-owning library.

If the patron finds the item and returns it within 6 months of payment, the system will void the item price and re-apply the overdue fines that had been previously voided. The system will not void processing fees.

Historical Note: The PINES Executive Committee agreed upon a Long Overdue policy in May of 2006 [2006.05], but the system was not capable of automating it at the time. Implementation of this feature occurred October 2014 and eligible items for the previous three years were marked Long Overdue.

A patron may inform staff that an item is LOST. Staff should mark the item LOST in Evergreen to create a bill for the lost item. The price of the item, plus an optional processing fee of up to $10 (set per library in the Library Settings Editor), will be assessed to the patron’s card. Overdue fines on the item will be automatically voided when marking an item lost [2002.09]. Lost items may be paid for at any PINES library.

See Payment Retention and Reimbursal regarding payments on Lost Items that are accepted by a non-owning library.

If an item has been marked lost that has not been paid for is returned within 180 days, Evergreen will automatically void the item’s cost and reinstate any overdue fines that had previously been voided when the item was marked lost. The system will not void processing fees.

If an item has been marked Lost or Long Overdue that has not been paid for is returned after 180 days, Evergreen will not void the item's cost.

Evergreen will not void processing fees. If a library chooses to forgive a processing fee for one of their own items, staff must do it manually. Libraries must not forgive or void processing fees on items owned by other libraries.

Evergreen will only automatically void and restore fines associated with the circulation that resulted in the lost item. The system does not void/restore overdue fines related to other circulation transactions on an item.

“Found” materials may be returned to any PINES library but routed to the owning library, with the understanding that the owning library will be the final authority on whether the material is in acceptable condition for return. When appropriate, the owning library will issue a refund check to the patron via U. S. Mail. The refund check will be payable to the library cardholder on whose record the materials were circulated [1999.10].

Claims Returned is used when both a library system and a patron are unable to agree on the location of the disputed item thus creating a 'draw' or 'amnesty' for the item [2010.02]. If a user claims to have returned materials that still show as checked out, the material may be marked with a Claims Returned date. Overdue fines stop accruing as of the date entered in the Claims Returned field.

A user may have up to 5 Claims Returned items on his/her record, after which no more items for that user can be marked Claims Returned. If Claims Returned items are found, the Claims Returned counter on the patron’s account information screen may be manually changed at the discretion of the owning library system.

A Claims Returned item can be declared Lost by the owning library if it is not found after 45 days [1999.10].

Missing is a status assigned to items which show as available in the library catalog, but which are not found on the shelf. When an item is not found on the shelf, a staff member should manually mark the item Missing in Evergreen using the Item Status editor. The library should then run a regular report of items in Missing status to try to locate them, and then delete them as they see fit.

When an item is marked Damaged, it is hidden from the public catalog and will not be targeted for holds. The Damaged item status may be used for items that are damaged beyond repair and will need to be discarded, or for items that will be returned to the collection after repairs. The Damaged item status may be used regardless of whether or not a patron will be billed for damages.

Only the library that owns an item should assess whether or not a patron should be billed for damages to that item or not. The owning library may choose to bill the entire cost of the item plus a processing fee if an item is damaged by the patron beyond repair, or may choose to bill a partial amount (for example, when there is repairable damage such as a minimally torn cover), or may choose to mark the item damaged without billing the patron for it (for example, when there is damage caused by normal wear and tear).

Libraries may choose to assess a processing fee of up to $10 per item for item damage on their own items (this is set in the Library Settings Editor). If the damage is assessed after the item has been checked in, a damaged bill may be added to the patron account manually.

See Payment Retention and Reimbursal regarding payments on Damaged items that are accepted by a non-owning library.

See Damaged Items for step-by-step instructions.