Going Fine Free in Koha

By Galen Charlton, Implementation and IT Manager at Equinox Open Library Initiative

So, after much discussion, presentations before your board, research, and community engagement your library has made the decision to stop charging overdue fines. What time is it now? It’s time to implement that decision and update the policies in your ILS!

The starting point in Koha is to stop new loans from being charged overdue fines. In Koha, the place to go is Administration → Circulation and fine rules:

Screenshot of Koha's circulation rules interface

Within Koha you can also adjust the following system preferences, particularly if there are to be no exceptions to your fine-fee policy:

  • Turn off CalculateFinesOnReturn and CalculateFinesOnBackdate
  • Set finesMode to “Don’t calculate”

What about existing overdue fines? If your library has elected to forgive them, one approach is doing so piecemeal as patrons return or check out items. Equinox can also help with data projects to do a batch forgiveness of overdue fines; please get in touch with Equinox Support if you would like more information.

Equinox migrates Port Colborne Public Library to the Libraries in Niagara Cooperative

Niagara

Duluth, Ga., December 17, 2020: Equinox is pleased to welcome the Port Colborne Public Library to Evergreen with their successful migration to the Libraries in Niagara Cooperative (LiNC) in Canada.

The Port Colborne Public Library’s move will support 7,195 patrons and encompass a total of 45,516 bibliographic records. Services provided by Equinox included project management, training, and Evergreen software configuration. Data extraction and bibliographic deduplication were also completed as part of their migration encompassing item, patron, and transaction records. 

“We are very happy to be part of LiNC and the Evergreen Community,” said Susan Therrien, director of library services at the Port Colborne Public Library. “We are excited to share resources with our partner libraries in the Niagara region. Library staff love the functionality of Evergreen. The technical support from Equinox during the migration has been nothing short of outstanding. They have been friendly and supportive. Our thanks to everyone on the team.”  

LiNC was established in 2010 between four public libraries and a college library and has since grown to 10 organizations. In 2017, the cooperative began resource sharing.

“It is a pleasure working with the Port Colborne librarians during their migration,” said Erica Rohlfs, senior project manager at Equinox. “They are enthusiastic about joining LiNC and expanding the resources offered to their community.”

About Equinox Open Library Initiative
Equinox Open Library Initiative is a nonprofit company engaging in literary, charitable and educational endeavors serving cultural and knowledge institutions. As the successor to Equinox Software, Inc., Equinox carries forward more than a decade of service and experience with Evergreen ILS, Koha ILS and other open-source library software. At Equinox, we help you empower your library with open-source technologies. To learn more, please visit https://www.equinoxinitiative.org/.

About Evergreen
Evergreen is an award-winning ILS developed to provide an open source product able to meet the diverse needs of consortia and high transaction public libraries. However, it has proven to be equally successful in smaller installations, including special and academic libraries. Today, over 1,500 libraries around the world are using Evergreen, including NC Cardinal, SCLENDS and B.C. Sitka. For more information about Evergreen, including a list of all known Evergreen installations, see http://evergreen-ils.org.

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SciStarter: Expanding Knowledge with the Help of Your Library

Sometimes library patrons not only want to find knowledge at their library, but expand it. One way they can do that is by contributing to citizen science, where ordinary people help advance scientific research by collecting data and keeping their eyes open. As MythBusters’ Adam Savage put it, “the only difference between screwing around and science is writing it down,” and citizen science projects can help with that recording!

The SciStarter website maintains a directory of citizen science projects, ranging from performing censuses of earthworms to looking for asteroids or even alien life. Some projects, like the Transcribing Torrey project run by the Mertz Library at the New York Botanical Garden, even invite ordinary people to assist with bibliographic research!

Libraries can help facilitate citizen science by directing patrons to projects in their service area, lending out kits and instruments, and holding programs and events.  SciStarter has recently run pilot projects with libraries and has launched a new resource page for libraries.

This year’s Citizen Science Month is April. Consider getting involved and launching a citizen science project at your library!