by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
Following an extensive audit of Jacksonville’s public libraries, several recommendations to improve fine collection policies have been made. The report — approximately seven months in the making — was presented at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting by the auditor’s office.
“No one requested the audit,” said Pam Markham of the auditor’s office, “but it was an area that we wanted to look into and hadn’t for a while. Everything was very cordial and we just wanted to be sure that we were safeguarding the City’s assets.”
The library generated close to $650,000 in revenue last year.
According to the report, while collections on extended overdue fines by an outside collection agency were deemed “adequate,” further findings concluded that internal collections at all 16 library branches needed improvement.
One significant weakness was the library’s customer account database — an automated system — not having direct linkage with any cash registers on site. In other words, cash collections may or may not reflect customer account activity at a given time.
“It wasn’t that there always appeared to be a shortage in what they are collecting,” said Markham. “Sometimes it would read that they had actually collected more than what was owed and we knew that couldn’t be right.”
In response to the finding, the library maintained the automated database was not relied on for accounting purposes, but rather for tracking materials. However, library director Kenneth Sivulich agreed to implement a change to make the two systems more reflective of each other.
In a response to the audit report Sivulich wrote, “. . . the library will, at minimum, attempt to furnish branch locations with a daily report of transactions and instruct them to begin to reconcile their daily cash register receipts with the [automated system’s] reports, annotating where and why discrepancies exist.”
Sivulich added the library will look into the expense involved in integrating the automatic system and cash registers in the future.
Another weakness outlined in the audit report was the library’s “forgiveness policy.” Currently, any library employee can waive a late fee without the approval of a supervisor.
“We recommended that the library look into implementing a system where varying levels of access are allowed for employees,” said Markham. “For instance, any employee might be able to waive fines of $5 or less, but beyond that they would need to talk to their superior to get approval.”
Sivulich responded, saying “notes of explanation will be made where fines are waived . . . in addition we will investigate the possibility of assigning individual user codes with varying levels of responsibility.”
A final recommendation of the report called for further training, with respect to handling cash, of library employees who do not “appear to be very confident in the procedures they are performing and at times are confused by the process.”
The recommendation was based on the number of voids, overages and shortages found at several library branches.
Again, Sivulich agreed with the recommendation, saying library branch managers had been made aware of cash handling training courses at the Main Library and were instructed to recommend the training to any employee uncomfortable with the process.
Noticeable changes at all libraries should be in place by the beginning of next year, and Markham said a follow-up review will take place between six and 12 months.
“The library has been receptive to the what we have suggested,” she said. “We’re confident they’ll make improvements where needed.”