Rude Awakening

With the arrival of term bills, the myth of the Lament messenger fee has been cleared away, and the 75 cent charge stands revealed for what it is: a fine. This fine is not dependent on whether a messenger is ever sent for an overdue book; it is applied on any book not down the Lamont chute by 9 a.m.

Unfortunately, this fine is the only system that has worked so far. Since it was instituted last term, the number of overdue books has gone down 90 percent, with resulting improvement in library service. Lamont's directors wish they could do without the fine, which involves much extra clerical work and does not provide a very great increase in revenue. They point out, however, that the fine is lower than those in most college libraries, and has not been levied on one-time offenders.

The main complaint against the whole program is the poor publicity it has received at all stages. First, it was consistently advertised as a messenger service, causing a lot of misunderstanding. Second, there was no notification sent to many people who had been fined, except that the worst offenders were called in for conferences at the library. This meant that offenders who might have become more punctual if they knew they were being fined, were in the dark until term bills came out.

The 75 cent fine, along with the system of closed reserve books, is opposed to the original Lamont plan of free access with as little coercion as possible. But absolute freedom has turned out to be impractable in Lamont's case. Provided the fine is adequately explained, it is a necessary, if unpleasant, measure.