Masters said the trial run was to see if the results "warranted continuing with the service."

She said the collection agency charges $10 for every account processed.

And while some libraries have come under intense scrutiny for using collection agencies, Masters said she hoped the policy wasn't controversial here.

"I hope people would think it's good that were making every reasonable effort to be responsible stewards of the taxpayers' money," she said.

She said the system has declared an amnesty weekend on October 4-5.

Overdue materials which are returned to the library on Saturday, Oct. 4, or Sunday, Oct. 5, will be checked in and all charges that have accrued for those materials will be waived.

However, the program applies only to items returned to the library in good condition and does not cover existing fines for items previously returned, copy charges or other library debts.

After Oct. 5, she said, all outstanding charges on customer records will stand. "We hope many of them take advantage of Library Amnesty Weekend," she said.

Masters said some customers feel they own the material since it was paid for with tax dollars. "But that ownership is shared with more than 300,000 central Oklahoma residents who also have a right to the same materials."

M. Scott Carter366-3545scarter@normantranscript.com