How to discourage patrons writing and marking into books?

Some patrons return books with margins full of comments, underlined text, even luminescent text markers have been applied.

Use of RFID-based return machines skips the check applied by most librarians, and once the book has been returned, it's hard to lay blame on a particular patron.

Are there any successful means to actively discourage patrons from writing into books?

Or, in other words, to actively encourage patrons not to write into books?

Tatjana Heuser

• circulation
• patron-management
• rfid

Comments

Answer by Tatjana Heuser

Printed and preformatted note-taking paper, like the Fast Book Outliner by David Seah may be an answer. The sheet can be folded to go into the book as a bookmark, and the patron can use it to keep track of his progress through the book, marking down his ideas and refer to the pages he wants to return to.

There are several layouts for printout, for example:

or

It offers the patron the added benefit of still being available to him once he returns the book, and in case he decides to borrow the same book again, he can continue his work right where he left it, building on his own notes.

It would probably even be possible to commission a customized version, incorporating library specific design and information.

Comments

• user130: Thanks for the link!
• Melissa: I've never heard of this before; it would be extremely useful in the textbooks that are on the library shelves, which seem to have the most issues with defacing.

Answer by jonsca

Even if no one is inspecting the books, the inclusion of a notice such as "Patrons who mark in or on books under any circumstances could be charged for a replacement up to double the book's cost and be suspended from borrowing for up to 6 months, depending on the nature of the infraction" will deter most individuals not doing so out of malice.

A cursory inspection of, say, 10% of the books returned via RFID should also net some of the culprits. Even if you can't narrow it down to an individual for sure, you can maintain a sealed "high probability" list for comparison's sake.

Comments

• alxp: Signs like that also deter people form thinking of the library as a place they want to be in and borrow books from. One slip up and you lose your library privileges means 'forget it, I'll just go to the bookstore.'
• Tatjana Heuser: It's not lack of knowledge that writing in library books is considered damaging the book on purpose. Those patrons who are writing into books and colouring them as if they were a stack of xeroxed copies do so, because they deem their personal imminent need (to use the book the way they want) more important than the rules of use (or fair use). Some faculties are a lot worse than others. Deterring didn't help so far, we need to be more creative (and positive) and offer them something _they_ prefer to damaging our books.
• jonsca: @alxp Not to be blunt, but if the patron needs a copy they can write in, they *should* be going to the bookstore. Also, posting such a notice doesn't imply that the library has to act on it.
• jonsca: @TatjanaHeuser I concede that your solution is the more creative, and probably productive, of the two. Mine is more of a "please don't walk on the grass" solution, it appeals to the conscience, and while many will walk as they may, it might send the more responsible user off to get their own sheet of paper :)
• Eliah Kagan: One problem with this kind of aggressive signage is that offenders aren't the only patrons who see it. It's a burden to patrons who respect the materials, and some patrons may even take it as a challenge. Or, counter-intuitively, *as permission* to write in books (because patrons who already feel entitled to mark books up may see it as confirmation that if it's ever really considered a problem, they'd be paying to have it dealt with anyway).
• jonsca: @EliahKagan Everyone *should* see the message, though. It should be a deterrent for the casual user that says "scrawling my notes in the margin won't hurt anyone," and for that group it would be the most effective. Those that are going to challenge the system are going to challenge it regardless. I understand your economic reasoning, but I think asserting such a truth in this situation would require studying the problem specifically in libraries.
• Eliah Kagan: @jonsca I said the problem is *offenders* aren't the only ones who see the message, not that *serious offenders* aren't. Most users probably don't scrawl in books, and it is a burden to those users, discouraging them from using and supporting the library (as alxp commented). I do agree that my economic reasoning is speculative and that a study specific to libraries (or even more specific to a particular kind of library, e.g., public, academic) would be needed to confirm (or reject) it.
• KatieR: I agree with @alxp, but I also believe in making a library into a friendly and enjoyable place to be. Some librarians want their libraries to be cold & heartless. If you don't plan on acting on the threat, why even put it up? How will a sign with a threat that isn't acted on going to stop chronic book defacers?
• jonsca: @KatieR I wasn't suggesting anything should be put up (that was the other answer), but be put into the books. I don't consider a notice of rules to be unfriendly, it's just a notice of rules -- if people don't break them, there's no problem. I wouldn't consider a "DON'T WALK" sign on a city street to be a deterrent to my enjoyment of a stroll down the block.
• jonsca: @EliahKagan Why does a sign outlining the rules discourage you from using something?
• Eliah Kagan: @jonsca (I'm wondering why you didn't ask this when alxp made the same point.) I think that being constantly reminded that you are subject to a punitive authority when you use your library will discourage people from seeing the library as a welcoming place that they are safe and free to use. When the message is combative (as in this case), I think it will also make it less likely that patrons will see the library as *theirs* (to use, cherish, and protect).
• Eliah Kagan: I'm not saying policies imposing fines and suspensions of privileges shouldn't exist. But they do need to be carefully written, and all the more so when it is decided that they will appear prominently, as a constant reminder. Your proposed wording ("defacing books under any circumstances") is extreme and would offend any patron who is paying attention. Do you really think patrons should be comfortable with the idea of having their borrowing privileges suspended if they spill coffee on a book? Do you think a patron who has read this policy would stand up and take responsibility if they did?
• jonsca: @EliahKagan From the original question: "successful means to actively discourage" is what I was responding to. Please take my word that I'm a very easygoing person, but if someone starts running over my lawn with a car on purpose, I'm not going to wave and say "Thanks, please come again!!" Safety also comes from knowing that you'll have a book that isn't written in. Clearly, the easygoing measures are not helping the OP in their quest to rid their library of this problem. This is the only reason I would suggest escalation.
• jonsca: @EliahKagan Spilling coffee is not defacing.
• KatieR: Maybe to you but to a patron they might not realize that. You would have to list all the things that are "defacing" to really set the regular user at ease.
• jonsca: @KatieR There's some more "legalese", see if that softens the blow a bit. :P

Answer by Fisher

Under the idea that positive library signage is preferable, I created a sign to read:

Thank you for not writing in our books!

Simple and to the point. It took care of the person who was making editorial corrections, but if you have a more serious concern, jonsca's notice & selected inspection suggestions may be more applicable.

I've also seen libraries use a tipped in 'initial here to mark that you've read it' slip for those who are determined to put their mark in the corner to make sure they don't check out the same item years later--no longer quite as useful if you're part of any ILL system.

Comments

• Tatjana Heuser: That's a very important point, I like it, and it would also make the idea of offering them an alternate route to notetaking probably a lot more effective.

Answer by KatieR

Who is putting the books back on the shelves? Even though RFID tags might cause the books to skip the librarian, there is still a human putting them away, correct? I realize that it is near impossible to ask your pages (at least that's what we call them in the public library world) to check every book they put away, we encourage them to notify us if they find something wrong with a book. It doesn't always help in tracing back to made the offending marks (unless they are brand new marks & your ILS allows you to see who had the book last) but can help in maintaining the collection.

Comments

Answer by bibliophylum

I wonder if a notice along the lines of, "Please indicate your desire to purchase this book by writing in it" would work? :-)

Comments

Answer by Mary Jo Finch

Adults who write in books know they are not supposed to. Signs have limited impact on a good day when read by honest people, and they are generally useless for people who know they are dong something wrong and do it anyway. You have to find the culprits and speak to them directly (even if they deny culpability, they will know they are being watched).

To catch the offenders, it is best to inspect books before they are shelved (if you wait till the damage is caught later, you make your job much harder). At our library, whenever a material is returned with damage of any kind we contact the last person who had it and discuss it with him. If we have to leave a message, we temporarily block the account so he has to contact us in order to continue using the library. Sometimes the person will offer a plausible explanation of non-responsibility (usually, the book was that way when he got it), so we thank him for his help and then just put a note on the account in case it develops into a pattern.

We had a member who was hand "deckling" the edges of some of our books. We had a suspect, so we pulled some of the other items the person had checked out recently and we found other "deckling." It could be that the suspect just liked the same authors as the deckler, so we were careful not to accuse outright when we called. If a book is returned with writing, you can start with the person who returned it last and then look at some of the other items she checked out recently to see if there is a pattern. If you there is no pattern and you feel it is inappropriate to ask about it because too much time has elapsed, you can still put a note in the account in case it happens again.

Comments