Assessing Overdue Penalty Points

In addition to or instead of charging overdue fines, you can configure the system to assess penalty points (also known as overdue demerits) when patrons check in or renew overdue items. To determine whether to penalize a patron, the system first calculates the item's overdue period (the number of days or hours for which to fine the patron), then calculates the number of penalty points the patron owes. When a patron exceeds the maximum number of penalty points allowed by your library, the patron is blocked.

Calculating the Overdue Period

The overdue period is the number of days for which the patron is penalized for an overdue item. When applying penalty points, the system calculates an item's overdue period the same way as when charging overdue fines; that is, using the following formula:

For more information, see Calculating the Overdue Period.

Calculating Penalty Points

The system calculates penalty points as follows:

1. Determines whether the patron has earned any overdue penalty points. The system uses the following method to calculate the number of overdue penalty points accrued for an overdue item:
   1. Multiplies the number of days or hours in the overdue period by the number of points in the Odue Penalty loan rule element.
   2. If the item was recalled, increments the number of penalty points per day by the number of points in the Penalty Incr If Recall loan rule element.
   3. Adds the newly assessed points to the number of points already in the OD PENALTY field in the patron record.
2. Determines whether the points earned are sufficient to penalize the patron. To do so, the system compares the number of points to the Highest # Overdue Points element of the Patron Blocks table.
   • If the number of points earned is greater than the Highest # Overdue Points element, the patron is eligible for a penalty. The system proceeds to the next step.
   • If the number of points earned is less that Highest # Overdue Points, the patron is not eligible for a penalty. Instead, the system stores the points in the OD PENALTY field. The patron continues to accrue points in the OD PENALTY field until sufficient points are assessed to penalize the patron on a subsequent checkin.
3. Determines the number of days or hours to penalize the patron as follows:
   1. Divides the number of points earned for this checkin by the Highest # Overdue Points loan rule element.
   2. Multiplies this value by the number of days specified in the Block Days element of the Patron Blocks table to obtain the total number of days/hours to block the patron.
   3. Adds the total number of days/hours to block the patron to the checkin date and writes the resulting value to the BLK UNTIL fixed-length field in the patron record.

      Calculating the Number of Days to Block

      • If Fines/Bills: Charge fines for closed days and Fines/Bills: Charge fines for hours library closed are set to "NO", the system excludes closed days and hours from the overdue period, but does not exclude closed days or hours when calculating the number of days to add to the BLK UNTIL field. For example, if a patron earns two block days on Saturday, the patron is blocked until Monday, even if the library is closed on Sunday.
      • Unlike overdue fines, penalty points are not limited by the D/Hr 1st Fine Per and D/Hr 2nd Fine Per loan rule elements.
      
      
   4. Writes the remainder of the penalty points to the OD PENALTY fixed-length field.
4. Inserts a NOTE variable-length field containing the phrase "OD PENALTY" into the patron record. For example:

The patron is blocked until the date in the BLK UNTIL field passes. The next time you open the patron record after the BLK UNTIL date, the system makes the following changes to the patron record:

• Resets the value the BLK UNTIL field.
• Removes the penalty note from the patron record.
• Forgives any remaining points in the OD PENALTY field and resets the field to '0'.

Applying Penalty Points: An Example

The following example illustrates how penalty points are calculated upon checkin of an overdue item.

A patron checks in two items on June 5. Both items are five days overdue, and one of them has been recalled. The relevant loan rule contains the following settings:

Loan Rule Element	Example Value
Code	R
Odue Penalty	10
Penalty Incr If Recall	5

In addition, the Patron Blocks table specifies the following penalty values for the patron's P TYPE:

Patron Block Element	Example Value
Highest # Overdue Points	50
Block Days	1

The system calculates the patron's penalty points as follows:

For the first overdue item:

   5 days overdue
x 10 penalty points per day
  50 penalty points for the overdue item

For the second overdue, recalled item:

   5 days overdue
x 15 penalty points per day (10 Odue Penalty + 5 Penalty Incr If Recall)
  75 penalty points for the overdue item

The total penalty:

  50 penalty points for the first item
+ 75 penalty points for the second item
 125 penalty points
÷ 50 Highest # Overdue Points
   2 block days, remainder 25 penalty points

The system assigns a BLK UNTIL date of June 7 and adds 25 remaining penalty points to the OD PENALTY field in the patron record.

When you access the patron record on June 7 or later, if the patron has not earned any additional penalty points, the system resets the BLK UNTIL and OD PENALTY fields and removes the penalty note from the patron record.

See also:

Fining and Penalizing Patrons