Your library can choose to add a grace period to the item loan period. A grace period is the number of loan periods that Horizon waits before beginning to charge fines for an overdue item. In determining a grace period, Horizon considers only loan periods when your library is open.
If you decide to use grace periods, you need to set up a default grace period and any exceptions to that default. You can choose to not offer a grace period by entering “0” (zero) in the Default or Exceptions Value fields. (For instructions on setting up the grace period privilege, see Setting Up or Editing a Circulation Privilege.)
You can set up Horizon to charge fines for grace days once the grace period is over if an item is still overdue. You can also choose whether to charge fines for days when your library is closed. These two settings can work separately or together. However, in determining a grace period, Horizon considers only those loan periods when your library is open.
If a borrower returns an item during the regular loan period or the grace period, Horizon does not charge a fine on the item. If a borrower returns an item after the grace period passes, you can choose to have Horizon ignore the grace period in the fine calculation. (Ignoring the grace period in the fine calculation effectively extends the due date by the number of days of grace.) The Charge for Grace Days field in the location view controls whether fines are charged for grace periods. By default, Horizon comes with this functionality turned on.
Using a Grace Period without Closed Days
This section gives an example of how you might use a grace period without closed days. The table describes what happens when an item is due on the first of the month and you have a grace period of two days with a fine rate of $0.25 per day. There are no closed days:
Number of days the item is overdue |
Fine amount if the library charges for the grace period |
Fine amount if the library does not charge for the grace period |
One |
None |
None |
Two |
None |
None |
Three |
$0.75 |
$0.25 |
Four |
$1.00 |
$0.50 |
Using a Grace Period with Closed Days
In addition to choosing whether to charge for grace periods, you can choose to exclude from overdue fine calculation those days that your library is closed. (For example, if your library is closed on Sundays, you can set Horizon to not apply fines for the closed days.) The Charge for Closed Days field in the location view controls whether fines are charged for closed days. This section gives examples of how you might use a grace period with closed days.
Example 1
Suppose you do not calculate fines for closed days or grace periods. (Grace periods are calculated only as time periods when your library is open.) An item has a two-hour grace period and is due at 10:00 pm; the library closes at 11:00 pm, and reopens at 8:00 am the next morning. The item is checked in at 11:00 am, making it two hours overdue past the grace period. If the fine rate is $0.25 per hour, the borrower is charged $0.50. If the fine rate is $0.25 a day, the borrower is charged $0.25.
Example 2
Suppose an item is due on Saturday the 1st. The item has two grace days, and the library is closed on Sundays. The fine rate is $0.25 per day. The item is checked in on the 5th. Because grace days are always open days, the grace period makes the item’s due date Tuesday the 4th. This table describes what happens with different combinations of grace and closed day charges:
If the library |
and the library |
then the item is |
and the fine is |
charges for grace days |
charges for closed days |
four days overdue |
$1.00 |
charges for grace days |
does not charge for closed days |
three days overdue |
$0.75 |
does not charge for grace days |
charges for closed days |
one day overdue |
$0.25 |
does not charge for grace days |
does not charge for closed days |
one day overdue |
$0.25 |
If you use both a minimum fine and a grace period, and do not charge fines for the grace period, Horizon charges the minimum fine on the first day after the grace period. The fine remains at the minimum until the daily fine amount that you specified for this ITYPE equals the minimum fine amount, beginning with the first day after the grace period. Then the fine amount increases by the daily fine amount. If you do charge fines for the grace period, for items that are returned after the grace period passes, Horizon charges the minimum fine on the first day after the due date.
Suppose you have a fine rate of $0.25, a minimum fine amount of $1.00, and a grace period of three days. Horizon would charge these fines:
Days overdue |
Fine charged if there is no charge for grace periods |
Fine charged if there is a charge for grace periods |
First through third day overdue |
grace period—no charge |
$1.00 |
Fourth day overdue |
$1.00 |
$1.00 |
Fifth day overdue |
$1.00 |
$1.25 |
Sixth day overdue |
$1.00 |
$1.50 |
Seventh day overdue |
$1.00 |
$1.75 |
Eighth day overdue |
$1.25 |
$2.00 |
Ninth day overdue |
$1.50 |
$2.25 |
You can set up loan periods, fine rates, and grace periods in various combinations. Although it is not standard library practice, you can have a daily loan period with an hourly grace period, and a fine rate of either daily or hourly. You can also have an hourly loan period with daily grace periods. Each daily grace period would add 24 hours to the due time or date.
For example, suppose you do not calculate fines for closed days. An item has an hourly loan period with a one day (24 hour) grace period, and is due at 10:00 pm; the library closes at 11:00 pm, and reopens at 8:00 am the next morning. The item is checked in at 11:00 am. Because of the grace period, the item is not overdue.
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