PAGE 26. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23. 1985, WHITBY FREE PRESS ee Familiar faces in a new settung The faces are ail the same, but the name bas changed. The old Safeway store on Brock St. S. in Whitby is now an IGA. The store ceiebrated its grand opening last Wednesday, with visits from lots of head of- fice folk. Above, store manager Joe Glover looks over the chain's new produce section wth visiting produce manager Marco Gross from Oshawa. Free Press Staff Photo MON.-FRI. 52 Weeks a Year Except Canadian Statutory Holidays Minutes frd.m-Downtown Whitby FOR ENROLMENT AND Fui ~ INFORMATION CALL: Haif De68-20 Hourly 6 860 By SUSAN LESJAK Free Press Staff Fighting' the problem of overdue and unretur- ned books is an uphili battie for Most libraries. Every year, the Whitby public library loses close ta, $20,000 in unreturned books - one fifth of its annual book-purchasing budget. It's not surprising then, that Whitby's chief librarian Margaret Mc- Fadyen applauds the recent court decision to sentence a Toronto library user to 7 days in jail and order him to pay a $3,000 fine for failure ta return more than $13000 in library materials. "He's robbed the library." said Mc- Fadyen, "I'm glad to see the sentence. " "Wvs a form of stealing," agreed Pauie Baxter, Whit- by's librarian in charge of overdue books. "'Not just from the library but from every other person in the community. " JEAN CHRETIEN wiIl autograph his book "Stralght From The Heari" .ion October 25/85 t Reserve your copy now at: READER'S CHOICE 131 BROOK ST. S. WHITBY Would 11ke iD lntorm ail ryWttheir customners that they are now open: SALL DAY SATURDAYS- 3625 Brook St. N. i WHITBY 668-3321 CH RISTMAS CRAFT SALE 8 :*QuIlts *Toys .011 Panings -Folk Art -Wood Worlrlng .Chiî' oulChldren's Clothlflg *Jewelry -Floral Arrangements Enilliflg *Sained Glass -Home Baking *Sewing *Waler Colours *Tea Roam Also Partlclpallng Local Church Groupa à 01,1 Oul<es FREE ADMISSION PORT PERRY HIGH SCHOOL For information SAT., OCT. 26th 985-3972 1A.M.-4P.M. While Baxter said that the iibrary experiences some outright theft, the vast majority of "stoien" books are those checked out and neyer returned. The offenders range from young students to well-dressed business- men and everyone in between. "You can't point your finger at any one age group or soclo- economic group," said McFadyen. 0f ail the overdue notices that Baxter issues every year, fully 25 percent of the books are not returned after one year. Athough some will dribble in over the years, most will neyer be recovered. The library would pursue offenders more aggressively except for the fact that "the more that's done to get books back, the more it costs the library (in staff- time, postage and other processidg costs)," she explained. For each unreturned book, the cost of replacement' and the chance of recovery must be weighed again- st the costs that will be incurred by efforts to retrieve it. Baxter currently devotes a day each week just to the pracessing of overdue notices. The situation has wor- sened as Whitby's grown," said Mc- Fadyen. Although the percentage of irrespon- sible patrons is roughly the same. increased volume means in- creased lasses. In an effort to combat the probiem, the iibrary began handing the ac- counts of its most serious offenders over to a collection agency. While the system bhas only been in effeet for one and a hall years, making it too soon to judge the impact, Mc- Fadyen believes it's înaking "a positive dif- ference. " For serions repeat of- fenders, the library also resorts to suspending priviieges. Ap- proximateiy 12 patrons a year have their library cards revoked and the names of another 20 appear on a list of high risk borrowers. The iibrary's 1986 plans to fuily automate its system should also help, said the librarians. lt should be easier to maintain an accurate inventory and give patrons prompter notice of overdue books." The lag time in the iibrary's present semi- automated system means iibrary staff don't know a book is missing until weeks af- ter It should have been back on the sheives. The delay in sending out notices - often as much as five weeks - reduces the chance Of recovering boôks, Mc- Fadyen explained. Letter to the editor EDITORS NOTE: The followlng letter was wrltten to Mayor Bob Attersley by Peter and Wendy Sprlng ex- pressing satisfactiont wlth the home they pur- chased from Grand Oaks Home. Recently, many of their nelgh- bours - have expressed many concerna about the developer's ap- parent lnabillty to correct defects in their homes. Dear Sir: 1 am writing ta you on the subject of Grand Oaks Homes develop- ment, in which we are iocated. Having rented two new homes in Etobicoke and Mississauga in the past four years and being a homeowner, I feel qualifîed to comment on the negative preSs reports and commenta from some residents relative to the Grand Oaks organization. DELIVERY WHEN YOU WANT ITIGUOTATIONS WHEN YOU NEED TH-EMIPROMPT ArUENTION PHO E 68-196 am *ENVELOPES -BUSINESS FORMS INVOICES -CATALOGUES *CALENOARS *SOOKaINoING *5NAP SETS *CONTINUOU5 FORMS -BUSINESS FORMS - AN NOU N C EM ENTS -TICKETS *CHEOUES *PRICE LISTS -BROCHURES *RAISED PRINTING -INSTANT PRINTING -GOLO STAMPING *PHOTOGRAPHY *COLOFl WORK *INVENTORY CARDS *5HIPPING TAGS -LABELS *NEWSLETTERS *NCR FORMS -SCRATCH PAOS *CREATIVE DESIGN A COMPLETE PRINTINO SERVICE FOR THE PURCHASINO AGENT OR BUYER FAST EFFICIENT SERVICE.PICK-UP & DELIVERY.COPY DESIGN Il PREPARATION Since we maved ta Whitby in July, .ali the "deficiences" on our uls have been corrected ta Our satisfaction. We faund Grand Oaks management receptive ta aur mave-in probiems and they did ail they could ta correct, rearrange and replace the items we had iisted. Many of the construc- tion probelms* were similar ta those we had experienced in the twa previans new homes. We did have an unusual basement water prablemn which they taok great care ta tackle in a very professional manner, at their expen- se. Our main contact was Sal Merrick and his con- struction superinten- dafit, Fabian. 1 would like ta think we are part of a positive element in the cammunity. We en- jay aur home very niuch and particularly enjoy Whitby with the superb range of services and conveniences. We were also very touched by the recent kindness of the congregation of Emanuel Reformed Church who held a block party ta welcome the new residents of Grand Qaks Homes. The growing pains of any organiz&itian, city or business can be very trying but we wanted to let you know aur opinion. Sincereiy, Peter and Wendy Spring White Ash Dr. Whitby. Local ibrarian lauds jailing of Toronto book thief