LOWELL -- All libraries experience some loss of materials, whether it's people stealing books or DVDs without checking them out or simply not returning items past the due date.

Lowell's Pollard Memorial Library hopes to combat thefts with a new security and checkout system installed in September.

"Hopefully less things are just walking out the door without being checked out," said Library Director Victoria Woodley.

She said the library has had some sort of anti-theft system since before she came on board in 2000, but the last one had become obsolete and it was time for updated technology. Woodley said the library used state aid funds to pay for the system, but she declined to provide the cost.

With the new system, each book and item in the library has a radio-frequency identification, or RFID tag. When items are checked out properly, that tag is turned off. When someone tries to leave the library with an item that hasn't been checked out, the gates at the door sound an alarm and flash red lights, and the item information pops up at the checkout desk, Woodley said. The library also has surveillance cameras, she said.

Woodley said she believes the system is working, and her staff seems to be reporting fewer instances of theft evidence, such as jackets torn from books.

Getting items back that people don't return is an entirely separate issue.

Lowell hasn't had to go the route that the Fitchburg Public Library is considering: hiring a debt collector to recoup funds on lost materials. That library hopes to get reimbursement for a small fraction -- $1,800 of the 8,400 items valued at $175,000 -- that have not been returned.

Merrimack Valley Library Consortium Executive Director Eric Graham said none of the consortium's 36 member libraries has turned to automated debt collection.

The consortium collects numerous data from its members and provides that information to the state each year. Graham declined to provide loss information directly to The Sun, deferring to individual libraries and the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. Loss information was not included in the public library statistics on the state body's website and a spokeswoman did not respond to a request for information last week.

While libraries can usually easily determine loss figures like those provided by Fitchburg, Woodley said such data gathering has been complicated in Lowell by a recent change in the catalog system that allows the libraries in the Merrimack Valley Library Consortium to share items. Other area libraries The Sun contacted reported similar difficulties.

Woodley said she felt debt collection wouldn't be an effective way to recoup funds on lost materials because there would be no credit-score incentive on those who owe and it could push patrons away instead of compelling them to pay.

Lowell is among about half of the member libraries of the consortium that charge overdue fees for items. For books, its 5 cents per day for a maximum of $3 per item. For movies, it's $1 per day for a maximum of $5 per item.

Woodley said she wants to look at doing away with the fines altogether.

Other libraries, like those in Westford and Chelmsford, haven't charged such fees for years. Libraries in both towns estimated the materials they are unable to reclaim are typically less than half of 1 percent of their circulation in a given year.

Library Director Ellen Rainville said it has been more than 45 years since Westford's J.V. Fletcher Library charged overdue fees and fines.

She said that changed as part of an early 1970s progressive philosophy that such fines ultimately cause more harm than good.

"There was a feeling that it actually discouraged the return of books after a certain point," Rainville said.

When items aren't returned on time, Rainville said it's usually because the responsible person is experiencing some sort of family hardship or other "circumstances that make the return of library materials a very minor priority."

Like at any library, there will always be times when items are damaged or lost and have to be replaced, she said.

"There is a cost of doing business with the public, and we have that expectation that a book will get loved to death, a book will get eaten by a dog, a book will end up in the bottom of a pool, or a book will be left in a taxicab in London," Rainville said, noting real-life examples.

As of Wednesday, the Chelmsford Public Library had 481 items missing for the year -- many of which might still be recovered, Library Director Becky Herrmann said -- out of the 111,359 items in the collection. The approximate value of those items is $8,600 -- far less than the estimated $10,000 annual cost of a security system and the loss of patron goodwill that would result, she said.

"I think we are really very fortunate in Chelmsford that our losses are not greater," Herrmann said. "Our library patrons value the library and their ability to use all of our services."

Wilmington Memorial Library used to charge more, but greatly reduced the items that have overdue fees a couple years ago, according to Assistant Director Charlotte Wood.

She said it's part of a trend of libraries moving away from fines in an effort to be friendlier to patrons.

"You still get materials back," Wood said. "The fines were nickel-and-diming people. It really wasn't very friendly."

Now, Wilmington only charges overdue fines for items designated as "hot": the most popular books, DVDs and CDs of the moment, Wood said. Such items have fees ranging from 25 cents to $1 per day, with a maximum of $3 per item.

The library also offers "Food for Fines" months, which many patrons prefer to paying the fines, Wood said. Every August and March, people can bring in items for the local food pantry in lieu of paying fines originating from only the Wilmington library, she said.

Overdue fees or not, all libraries in the consortium ask for agreed upon replacement costs for items that aren't returned. But libraries will try many ways to gently remind patrons to return items before it gets to that point.

Whether or not your home library charges overdue fees, the consortium policy is that once you reach $20 in fines or 20 overdue items, you're no longer able to check out materials from any of the member libraries without paying, Wood and Herrmann said.

Follow Alana Melanson at facebook.com/alana.lowellsun or on Twitter @alanamelanson.

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Lowell library goes high tech to combat thefts - Lowell Sun