Fines

Fines are the post type used to represent the charge (optionally) incurred when an Item on Loan is returned after it was due to be returned.

Created when an item is returned. The Librarian returning the Item is given the option to choose whether to fine the Member to waver the fine. If the Librarian chooses to fine the Member, the fine is calculated as the number of days late X the Library's charge per days late. For example: a book returned on the 5th that was due on the 3rd, at a library where the daily charge is £0.20, would be 2 X £0.20 = £0.40 as the book was returned 2 days after it was due. For security reasons it is not possible for a Librarian to choose how much to fine the Member.

Fines can not be paid individually, and must be paid as quantities of money from the Member management page. Fines do not place any restrictions on a member, but do passively alert a Librarian to a Member's behaviour, as the Member's current Library debt is displayed in the meta box that appears when loaning an item to a member. As a result of this, fines do not have an unpaid or paid status. Member debt is a simple sum of all active fines subtract all Member's payments.

Fines charged by accident, or later wavered owing to a profuse apology by the Member involved, may be cancelled. Cancellation removes the fine's amount from the Member's Library debt. If, as a result of payments by the Member, the Member's debt was 0 at time of cancellation then the Member's debt will become negative.