The current main page and the fines/fees tab of a user’s account do not show the balance of the accruing fines to the circulation desk operators. The fines/fees tab doesn’t include the information of the loans that have accruing fines on them, and this confuses both circulation desk operators and clients. Circulation desk operators should be able to see this information easily and they should be able to give exact information to the library patrons about their fines/fees. Now this information is on several lists of loans and returns and the operator cannot see the accruing balance anywhere. (see Figure 1)

We propose that the main page of a user’s account should display the active (payable) balance with the Pay button beside it, the accruing balance, and the total amount of fines/fees (see Figure 2). Furthermore, we propose that the fines/fees tab of a user’s account should include the accruing balance, the list of fines/fees should include the loans that have accruing fines and the operator should be able to filter the list by status “Accruing” if needed (see Figure 3). Please see the attached document with the screenshots.

[There are two relating ideas in Idea exchange: “Expand Scope of Active Balance” and “Display both charges payable and total charges owed”, but these two are not adequate as such from our perspective.]

Fines often get exported through Bursar before a patron disputes them. Our lost item replacement fees and overdue fines get funneled into different accounts. The vague description for "credit" does not give our system any way to determine which account the credit should be adjusted from. (For example: A lost item replacement fee charge ends up in our materials budget once sent to the Bursar. The majority of credits are for materials returned after they were billed, so this is our default credit account. Since all credits are just defined as a "credit" when exported to the Bursar, credits for fines created in error or that were from a different budget still end up coming out of the materials budget.)

This could be greatly improved by adding additional Credit types rather than just "Credit" (such as "Credit Overdue Fine" and "Credit Replacement Fee")

We have several short-loan items that our patrons check out, and these items often generate small fines that are difficult to track whether or not a fine is legitimate, or if there may have been operator error.

For example, we circulate study rooms where a student may check out the room key, and a box of white board markers or a television remote. If the student returns the room key and white board markers on time, but not the remote, it's difficult to tell if that's valid.

Solution: Rather than emailing all staff that may need to interact with that patron in a dispute, we would like to be able to attach a note to the specific fine stating the reason the fine isn't being waived (e.g. the remote was left in the room and our staff found it at the end of the day). This leaves inboxes clear, removes any need to go digging through old emails, and creates access for new staff and student workers who may onboard after the original email.

As new Alma users, we struggle with Alma’s use of the Fulfillment term ‘Active Balance.’ This is the balance owing that is displayed at the top of the Patron Services screen for each user. We find the term ‘Active Balance’ to be a bit of a misnomer because it only reflects fines/fees for closed transactions as listed under a patron’s Fines and Fees tab – leaving out currently accruing fines for overdue items (support case 00673063) and accruing fines for unpaid items declared lost (support case 00667631).

The current display puts front line circulation desk operators at a bit of a disadvantage when a user asks them to provide a total amount owing on the spot. Likewise, patron facing Fines\Fees Notification and Borrowing Activity letters reflect the ‘active balance’ as stated in the Fines and Fees Summary, and leave out currently accruing fines for overdue and unpaid lost items.

We would like to propose that the Patron Services screen display a more complete ‘Active balance’ that reflects all amounts owing -- ie., applied fines from Fines & Fees tab + currently accruing overdue amounts. The ‘Active Balance’ should change daily as additional charges are accrued, paid or waived, etc. Supporting Fines/Fees Notification and Borrowing Activity letters should reflect this broader focus.

We're excited about using the Alma Touchnet connector to automate Touchnet payments into Alma, however we have found that in its current form we can't implement. The reason is we are a multi-branch institution with different libraries each with different funds into which fines money is paid. Right now patrons pay fines in Touchnet by navigating to a separate Touchnet payment page, corresponding to a different library and account, for each library.

Currently, the Alma Touchnet connector can only send payments to one Touchnet site. Then when the payment request comes back, it pays against that patrons account, in Alma, paying off the oldest fine first, then the next oldest, etc. regardless of what library they belong to.

What I'm suggesting, although I'm very open to alternate suggestions, is that the connector/Primo provide a drop down menu in Primo to allow the user to choose which libraries fines they'd like to pay. Then it sends along with the request data that is sent to Touchnet that also comes back to the connector, the fine_ids of the charges that correspond to that library. perhaps it could also prefill the amount on the Touchnet payment form. Then only this library's fines would be paid and the money would go into the correct account. Obviously there might need to be some configuration allowed, or set up in the connector/Primo if several libraries use the same payment account.

We need the ability to notify patrons at the point that fines are assessed on their library accounts. Some libraries use the Borrowing Activity Letter for this purpose, but we find that this approach causes confusion for our library patrons. The solution to these problems is to send a letter when fines are actually assessed on user accounts. The letter would be triggered either by the renewal of items resulting in fines or by the return of items resulting in fines. The existing Return Receipt Letter contains all the necessary data elements for this purpose. We request a similar letter that can optionally be configured so that it will be triggered any time a fine is assessed on an account. This would occur when overdue items are scanned in via “Scan In Items” or “Return Items” as well as in the Returns tab of the patron account. It would also occur when items are renewed.

Confusion: The Borrowing Activity Letter is received too far away in time (in our case, once per month) from the assessed fine. Oftentimes, patrons are confused by the fact that they are being notified of fines because time has passed since the fines were actually assessed. It would be better to send this portion of the letter as fines are actually assessed. Further, the statement of fines on the Borrowing Activity Letter is misleading. This statement tells the patron that a fine is currently accruing (meaning that it could be different tomorrow!). We need a statement that informs the patron once a fine has been assessed (and is therefore a stable reckoning of their account). Ex: On Tuesday, student receives notification that they have an overdue item with $7.00 in fines currently accruing. When the student brings back the item on Wednesday, they will have accrued $7.50 in fines. Wednesday evening, the $7.50 assessed fine will be exported to Bursar. (This is the information that the student needs to receive.) On Thursday, the student's Primo account will say that they have $0.00 in "Active" fines.

The solution to these problems is to send a letter when fines are actually assessed on user accounts. The letter would be triggered either by the renewal of items resulting in fines or by the return of items resulting in fines. The existing Return Receipt Letter contains all the necessary data elements for this purpose. We request a similar letter that can optionally be configured so that it will be triggered any time a fine is assessed on an account. This would occur when overdue items are scanned in via “Scan In Items” or “Return Items” as well as in the Returns tab of the patron account. It would also occur when items are renewed.