[LIBRARYDIR] Circulating Chromebooks...

[Tammy Siebenberg]

I shouldn’t trust spellcheck to catch my typos.  “Were” should be “Wear”

Tammy

From: LIBRARYDIR [mailto:librarydir-bounces at lists.ctc.edu] On Behalf Of Tammy Siebenberg
Sent: Friday, March 17, 2017 4:02 PM
To: WACTC Library Directors <librarydir at lists.ctc.edu>
Subject: Re: [LIBRARYDIR] Circulating Chromebooks...

Yakima Valley has checked out student laptops for quite a few years.  The original ones were Lenovos; then in fall 2016 we got new Dell Inspiron 13’s.

The Lenovos were quite sturdy and checked out in a padded canvas backpack.  When they broke we were able to fix somethings or cannibalize parts from a non-functional one to fix another.

The Dells are a little more fragile and the bags we bought to carry them in are not as well-padded on a couple of the corners as I wish.  We had one broken screen the first day it was checked out.  We sent it to Dell for repair and the student paid the repair costs.  If the damage is minimal or moderate we charge for reasonable damages, such as $50 or $100 to compensate for in-house repairs.  We also charge for cleaning if the laptop comes back really dirty.  Were Wear and tear or small repairs are marked on the computer so the next student is not responsible for them.

If the laptop is damaged beyond repair, no longer able to be circulated, or never returned, we charge a replacement fee plus a $5.00 processing fee.  For the Lenovos the replacement fee was $500; for the Dells it is $700.  We also charge a $25 per day overdue fine up to the replacement cost.

Since September 2016 we have had 4 computers not returned out of 80.  One was stolen from a student’s stolen car.  She paid the full replacement fee.  Two have never been returned and the replacement fee has not yet been paid.  One is just a few days overdue.  Several of the Lenovos were never returned.  In a few cases the replacement fee was paid.  There are outstanding replacement costs on several others.

We check out the computers for one week.  Near the end of the quarter, the due date is the last day of class, though we may extend it through finals on a case-by-case basis.  We’ve found that the last day of class due date works better for us because there is time to get overdue notices to the students while they are still on campus for finals.  When the due date was the end of finals, they’d finish their exams and take off, completely forgetting to return the laptops.

You can see our policies for borrowing laptops at http://yvcclibrary.us/Yakima/laptops.htm.  We also have them sign a borrowing agreement, which is needed if collection becomes necessary.

Tammy

Tammy R. Siebenberg, MLIS
Director – Library & Media Services  ​
Yakima Valley College
509.574.4984
tsiebenberg at yvcc.edu<mailto:tsiebenberg at yvcc.edu>
www.yvcc.edu<https://www.yvcc.edu/>

From: LIBRARYDIR [mailto:librarydir-bounces at lists.ctc.edu] On Behalf Of Kanne, Lynn
Sent: Friday, March 17, 2017 2:30 PM
To: librarydir at lists.ctc.edu<mailto:librarydir at lists.ctc.edu>
Subject: [LIBRARYDIR] Circulating Chromebooks...

We recently began circulating Chromebooks for one week. Over one quarter, we’ve had two damaged, one lost, and one claims returned. (For the last one, we’re establishing a receipt process.)

The damaged Chromebook still works, but can’t be checked out. Can you send me anecdotes or policies that are working well for you for circulating expensive/fragile equipment? How have you handled damaged technology?

Thanks for your sharing your experiences.

Lynn

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lynn Kanne
Interim Dean, Instructional Resources: Library<http://seattlecentral.edu/library> | e-Learning<http://www.seattlecentral.edu/distance/index.php> | Professional Development<http://www.seattlecentral.edu/employee/prof-dev.php>
Seattle Central College | e: Lynn.kanne at seattlecolleges.edu<mailto:Lynn.kanne at seattlecolleges.edu> p: 206-934-4072


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.ctc.edu/pipermail/librarydir_lists.ctc.edu/attachments/20170317/e2f63fb5/attachment-0002.html>