Here's an interesting
idea. The city library in Hayward, CA, is offering a Netflix-like service for those visitors who would like to hold materials for longer. The service "aims to lure back library users who find their accounts blocked -- 20% of total users -- and give up on the library." The Acting Director there says:
“In my nine years talking to library customers on the front lines and in management I’ve learned that the vast majority of library users who get fined are basically responsible people who wanted to return their library books on time, but for whatever reason, didn’t,” Reinhart told LJ. "I know so many people who have given up on libraries either because they have too many fines, or because they want to avoid getting fined in the first place. The system doesn’t fit their schedule, so they don’t use the resource. So I asked myself, why can’t the library let people have a limited number of items for an unlimited length of time in exchange for a monthly fee, just like Netflix?”
