On the first day of spring 2017 the Library Committee enacted a new policy on library materials that are returned late. Students will now have to pay fees for late returns. Students will be fined 10 AED per hour for unreturned materials on reserve and 20 AED per day for unreturned library equipment.

The policy is designed to motivate students to return materials on time. According to Chairman of the Library Committee Raghav Kumar, Class of 2019, materials are often deliberately returned late. Kumar hopes that the policy change will give students the incentive to hand in materials on time.

The work that led to this change of policy started last summer as an attempt to uncover why the library received complaints about a lack of availability of equipment. The library bought several new Macbooks and projectors during the summer but, according to Kumar, this did not solve the issue.

“The situation remained the same … In fact, I have reports of some students who kept the laptop for the whole semester,” said Kumar.

Kumar also noted that prior to the policy being enacted, students did not have sufficient incentive to return library materials As of now, both fines are limited at 180 AED per item. If a course reserve is overdue by more than three days, the item is considered lost, whereas library equipment is considered lost after a period of 15 days. However, the replacement charge will be waived if the item is returned.