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Library Fines and Circulation Rates <br />While it is challenging to study the effect of library fines and fees on <br />circulation patterns, a few researchers have attempted to do so. In 1981, <br />Hansel and Burgin (1983) sent a survey to all public libraries in North Carolina to <br />discern which circulation activities affected overdue rates over three <br />years. They found no significant difference in overdue rates between libraries <br />that charged fines and those that did not; and libraries that did not charge fines <br />tended to have higher overdue rates in the short run, but lower overdue rates in <br />the long term. Reflecting on their research, the authors stated "with overdues, as <br />with so many aspects of librarianship, there are no easy answers--that seems to <br />be the primary finding of the study" (Hansel & Burgin, 1983, p. 350). <br />Perhaps unsatisfied with the "no easy answers" conclusion in their first <br />attempt, Burgin and Hansel replicated their study in 1983 and 1990. The 1983 <br />study revealed much the same data as the 1981 survey, but added a new <br />result: the amount of the fine charged by a library had a significant correlation <br />with the overdue rate--low fines did not reduce overdue rates, but steep ones <br />did (Burgin & Hansel, 1984). In the third study, the authors concluded "In short, it <br />appears that few strategies used by the libraries in the present survey had any <br />significant effect on overdue rates" (Burgin & Hansel, 1991, p. 65). As diligent as <br />they were, in three research projects over fifteen years, these authors could not <br />uncover data to support the assumption held in the profession that the <br />existence of nominal fines is a successful incentive to patrons to return materials <br />6 <br />