Billing, Appeals and Retention of Billing Records

Billing Appeals

Patrons may appeal charges. Library staff and the Head of User Services will review appeals. Patrons will receive an email with information about their decision.

Appeals Cases

To initiate an appeal, an appeals form must be completed and returned electronically, by mail, or in person at the Checkout Desk. Appeals will be processed as they are received.

Consideration will only be given to appeal cases that are within one calendar year of the date of the invoice that generated the need to file an appeal, with exceptions allowed during Library amnesty periods. Patrons may initiate appeals for the following reasons at NIU Libraries:

• Overdue notices
• Lost item billing charges
• Damaged item charges
• Overdue fine charges for Reserves items
• Suspension of NIU borrowing privileges

Appeals may only be initiated for fines incurred for NIU materials, not for violations of Circulation policies at other institutions.

Outcomes of Appeals

There are three outcomes for appeals:

1. Appeal granted
2. Appeal denied
3. Appeal cannot be heard

Requests for a reconsideration of appeal outcome will be handled by the Head of User Services and must be forwarded to the Head of User Services within one calendar year of the date listed on the Appeal Response letter. Requests received after that date will not be eligible for reconsideratio,; the original outcome stands.

A. Appeal Granted

Appeals may be granted under any of the following conditions:

• Reasonable doubt exists about the accuracy of the library’s records.
• Patron provides verification that they returned other items at the same time.
• There is a possibility of error due to multiple copies and/or volumes of an item.
• Patron may have fines reduced because the item(s) has been returned, but the patron will still be responsible for charges incurred for library service fees.

B. Appeal Denied

Appeals may be denied under any of the following conditions:

• No proof of error on the part of the library can be found.
• The patron has not supplied adequate and/or relevant information.

C. Appeal Cannot Be Heard

• There is currently no billing invoice for this/these items.
• The item or items are still listed as “LOST,” “IN PROCESS,” or “MISSING” and are not on the shelf.

Retention of Library Billing Records

All patron billing records are purged from the library after five calendar years. For all questions concerning Library Billing older than five years, please refer to the NIU Bursar Office.