Printed Receipts issues

["William Gray" <wgray@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello,

We are a library that officially stopped stamping our materials with due-dates as of last July, and have since been giving our patrons printed receipts with which to track their materials.

To help soften the change-over, we had both stamped and given receipts for about 6 months prior, and we also handed out refrigerator magnets so patrons could have an easy means by which to keep their receipts handy. Alongside this change, we provided pamphlets on the reasons for the change, and how best to use the receipts. We've even kept the stamps available to patrons via a special "stamping station" whereby they may stamp their own dates, though most of our newly acquired materials are no longer processed with stamp-labels, so some patrons have begun to actually stamp inside the materials themselves (which is not desirable).

The change has cut an entire third of the time it takes us to check out items to patrons, and it has been easier on staff as well. However, there still seem to be some patrons who are quite vocally against the change and who want the stamps back, though the "silent majority" appear to be fine with receipts, along with a somewhat vocal minority.

I was wondering if there are any other libraries out there who have also switched over to printed receipts, and what problems you might have experienced with patron satisfaction in this regard, and what steps you might have taken (other than regressing back to stamps) that have been successful in alleviating patrons' resistance to the change.

Thank you in advance. If you reply, please copy me at my own e-mail address.

--William Gray
Greenwich Library
wgray@xxxxxxxxxx