User’s attitude to imposition of overdue fines by the library of Catholic University College of Ghana, Fiapre

Abstract

The study investigated user’s attitude to the imposition of library fines at the Catholic University College.  A sample size of 300 library users representing 13.8% of the 2180 users on the library’s register of borrowers as of April, 2012 was chosen through simple random sampling technique for the study . Questionnaires, observation and interviews were adopted as the data collection methods. Frequency tables, percentages and figures were also used in the data analysis. The study showed that majority of them (59.0%) have been slapped with overdue fines before.  Many of the respondents cited forgetting to return the item by the due date as the main factor in the incidence of overdue fines payment. Majority of them also stated that they complied immediately they were asked to pay a fine for overdue items. Some of the recommendations made included institutionalization of grace period for defaulters, reminder messages to borrowers and establishment of ceiling for overdue fines.

Keywords: Overdue fines, Library fines, Library charges, Academic library, overdue charges, Catholic University.