A significant number of your past due patrons will be juveniles. If you ignore this group, the dollar amount of non-returned materials will add up to be a huge amount over time.
Unique Management always contacts the parents of juveniles with past due balances. All letters are addressed, "To the Parents of:" followed by the name of the juvenile. All phone calls are directed to the parents or guardians.
Unique Management has just as much success recovering past due materials from juveniles as from adults.
Most parents are trying to teach their children responsibility and appreciate being notified that their child has not returned materials checked out so they can follow up. Unique Management has not experienced any difficulty in maintaining goodwill with the parents of juveniles.
Confidentiality is maintained because Unique Management does not have title information and just uses the dollar amount due when contacting parents or guardians.
Unique Management can maintain patron goodwill with this group and keep the process budget neutral. With the capability to recover a significant amount of materials from juveniles for free, why not do it?
SUMMARY: Juveniles with past due balances should be turned over to Unique Management and nudged/reminded to bring back their materials. They will respond just as well as adults and the library will recover a significant amount of materials for free.
