Swipe may pay library dues Popular Creek Library looks at credit payment: [C1 Edition]

Abstract

Cash and checks are amenities that Business Manager Darly Doyle said the younger demographic isn't accustomed to. "It's a benefit for patrons who say, 'What do you mean you don't take credit cards? Credit cards are accepted everywhere,'" she said. "It's a coming thing."

Whether the district will accept credit and debit card payments hinges upon more research, but a decision to use E-Pay would put Poplar Creek a step ahead of the Bartlett Public Library District, which only accepts cash and checks.

Rather than turning their pockets out for change, patrons of the Poplar Creek Public Library District may soon be able to pay fines with a swipe of their credit card or a click of their computer mouse.

Trustees on Wednesday discussed the possibility of using a state- regulated electronic payment system, which would allow patrons to use credit and debit cards to pay fines in person as well as online.

The system - called E-Pay - would neither cost the district money nor generate funds for it, but could help the district keep up with the times.

"I'm surprised by the number of libraries that are interested in this," said administrative librarian Patricia Hogan, who attended a seminar about the electronic payment system. "Some communities want everything online."

The district, which serves both Streamwood and Hanover Park, now accepts only cash or checks to cover fines from overdue or lost books.

But cash and checks are amenities that Business Manager Darly Doyle said the younger demographic isn't accustomed to. "It's a benefit for patrons who say, 'What do you mean you don't take credit cards? Credit cards are accepted everywhere,'" she said. "It's a coming thing."

Whether the district will accept credit and debit card payments hinges upon more research, but a decision to use E-Pay would put Poplar Creek a step ahead of the Bartlett Public Library District, which only accepts cash and checks.

"The library they used as an example (at the seminar) said they didn't collect more with E-Pay, but they collected sooner," Doyle said.

Patrons who tried to check out books but didn't have cash to pay fines wouldn't have gotten their books sooner if credit cards were accepted, Doyle said.

The village of Hanover Park accepts credit card payments for water and other bills, but Streamwood still accepts only cash and checks, library trustees said.