Member Libraries Adopt Uniform Loan Periods and Fine Rates

Beginning January 2, 2008, Washington County Cooperative Library Services (WCCLS) will implement uniform loan periods for all media formats as well as standardized fine rates. The goal of these changes is to increase consistency between libraries to improve customer service.

Beginning January 2, the following loan periods and fine rates will apply:

Loans Periods

Media Format	Loan Period
Books (including audio books)	21 days
CDs, music	21 days
Magazines	21 days
VHS videocassettes	21 days
Kits	21 days
DVDs	Local library option of 21 days or 7 days
Best sellers (any format)	14 days
Cultural passes	1 day
Reference materials Loaned at library discretion	Loaned at library discretion
Realia (ex: models)	Loaned at library discretion

Overdue Fine Rates

In order to accommodate local library service philosophies, member libraries have the option of charging or not charging overdue fines. If fines are assessed, all overdue fines will be the same for the same kinds of materials.

Fine Description	Fine Per Day
Standard fine rate (includes VHS & multi-media material)	$.15
DVDs	$1.00
Reference, E-books, AV equipment	$1.00
One-day items (includes cultural passes)	$10.00

Tuality Health Resource Center weather closure Dec. 27

Tuality Health Resource Center will be closed Thursday, December 27th due to the inclement weather. Please check back to see the schedule for Friday, 12/28.

Banks Library Weather Closure Dec. 27th

Banks Library is closed this morning, December 27th, due to inclement weather. The library will open later today if the weather improves.

New database: Facts On File's Science Online

Intended for students in middle school through high school, Science Online offers a comprehensive, curriculum-oriented overview of a broad range of scientific disciplines through extensive essays, diagrams, illustrations, images, biographies, experiments, activities, and definitions.

Science Online is available in the library and from your web browser with your WCCLS library card number. Science Online appears on the Periodicals page under these subjects:

• Science/Technology
• For Kids
• Biography
• Reference
• Youth

Contact us if you have questions about Science Online. We hope you find it useful.

Tigard Public Library Holiday Closures and New Thursday Hours

Tigard Public Library will be closing at 5:00 p.m. Monday, December 24 and Monday, December 31 for Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. The library will reopen for normal hours at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, December 26 and again on Wednesday, January 2, 2008.

Effective January 3, 2008, Tigard Public Library will open Thursday mornings at 10 a.m. The new schedule:

• Monday - Friday: 10:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
• Saturday: 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
• Sunday: 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Shute Park Branch Closed Dec. 17 to Jan. 1

The Shute Park Branch of the Hillsboro Public Library will be closed from December 17th, 2007 until January 1st, 2008. The library will be recarpeted during this closure.

Effective immediately, any holds for pickup at the Shute Park Library will show an "inactive" status. Your materials are still on hold for you and moving up the queue. Once the library re-opens on January 2nd, you will receive notices when your materials are available for pickup.

Please call the Hillsboro Public Library at 503-615-6500 if you have further questions about your materials on hold.

Winter Reading & Arts Festival Brings Portland Taiko to Cedar Mill Community Library

Cedar Mill Community Library is celebrating the rich cultural diversity in their community with a Winter Reading & Arts Festival, which runs from December 20, 2007 to March 22, 2008.

Your Library Brings You the World! is the theme around which will revolve an exciting line-up of performances, contests and crafts from around the world.

Kicking off the festival on the eve of the Winter Solstice will be a performance by Portland Taiko. Their drums will call the Cedar Mill and Bethany communities together on Wednesday, December 20th at 7pm in the upstairs meeting room at the Cedar Mill Community Library.

The festival is sponsored by a Community Cultural Participation grant from the Washington County Arts, Heritage and Humanities Coalition through funding from the Oregon Cultural Trust. For more information visit Programs @ Cedar Mill, or call the Cedar Mill Community Library reference desk at (503) 644-0043, Ext 114.

Blogging WCCLS News & Events

We've replaced the static News & Events page with the News & Events blog you're reading now. It's built on the popular Blogger platform, which makes it much easier to keep updated than the old static HTML page.

You can subscribe to WCCLS News & Events updates by

• entering your email address in the form on the left, or
• entering our news feed into your favorite feed reader by clicking on the orange feed button: .

There's also an orange feed button on the wccls.org main page.

The URL to WCCLS News & Events has changed to news.wccls.org. If you've bookmarked the old URL, www.wccls.org/news_events, that page will automatically redirect you to news.wccls.org. We'll leave the redirection page up a little while longer so frequent visitors have a chance to update their bookmarks or favorites.

Contact us if you have questions or comments.