In a report issued by the Irish Independent it has been revealed that UCD Library is owed €428, capsule 494 in overdue fines. This figure incorporates both outstanding fines and the cost of replacing books which have not been returned.
The report found that, sovaldi collectively, Irish colleges are owed nearly €800,000 in unpaid fines with UCD being responsible for over half of this figure. The second highest amount owed was to the library at the National University of Ireland Maynooth, which owed €150,350.61, a sustainably lower figure then that owed to UCD.
A spokesperson for UCD said that it was important to bear in mind that UCD is the largest university in Ireland with over 30,000 students; Maynooth has 8,500, with 21, 380 people making up the cost of these fines.
The UCD spokesperson also confirmed that fines remain on records until paid, even if a person is no longer a student or member of staff in UCD. This means that students who graduate and leave UCD with fines on record will have fines on their account if they ever rejoin UCD library as a member of staff or Alumni, they will then be liable for the payment of this fine.
Despite the large number of fines owed to UCD many students are in agreement that library fines are reasonable and justified. Speaking to the College Tribune, MA student Sophie Lawrence said she agreed with UCD library fines, “yes I think library fines are quite reasonable, I mean they’re annoying but they’re there for a good reason. It’s more about getting people to pay them.”
The UCD spokesperson said the library are continually actively engaging with students and staff to recoup all overdue library books and fines owed to the library.
