I'd like to suggest we add a line that if a material is stolen from a customer, the customer can present a police report to a staff member and we will waive the replacement cost. It's my understanding that currently, waiving this replacement cost is at management's discretion and while I do trust management to give good customer service when this occurs, I think adding this text to this policy will guide & empower library staff to give similarly good customer service "in the moment" instead of "waiting to find someone who can help."

We should consider reducing fines for overdue children's books, as well as penalties for lost/damaged children's books. They tend to be checked out in larger quantities, and, if you have more than one child, even being a couple days late can cause fines to increase exponentially. This can be a huge barrier to access, especially in low-income communities. Too often, I've heard parents tell their kids they can only check out 1 or 2 books (if any at all). They are worried about having late/lost/damaged materials. Some libraries have done away with fines for children's books altogether or have "read down" options for kids. Another possibility would be to set the maximum fine per children's book at, for example, 50 cents instead of $3. Removing or reducing this cost barrier will also help libraries in at risk communities meet their strategic goal of increasing their circulation of children's materials, and more importantly providing better access to the children who need it the most.
For example, check out this article "In San Jose, Poor Find Doors to Library Closed" -- http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/31/us/in-san-jose-poor-find-doors-to-libr...

We have had multiple comments from library members about why we charge full price for lost/damaged materials when they can order the item for $5.00 on Amazon. Several want to order the book and give it to us rather than paying $25 or whatever. While, of course, it's more complicated than that, maybe we should think about having something in the policy to account for depreciation. For example, if a book has circulated XX number of times or if an item has been in the system for XX number of years, we reduce it by some percentage. Like Tim Spindle said above this also has been at the manager's discretion in the past, but having something in the policy would empower staff to serve customers in the moment. I noticed a couple of policies that spelled out the fact that they don't do exchanges. For example, "The Seattle Public Library does not accept in-kind personally purchased replacements for items lost or damaged while in circulation." Santa Clara County Library District sometimes allows exchanges if approved in advance but charges a processing free: "The library does not accept the replacement of lost items unless a librarian has agreed to the exchange in advance. A lost processing fee is charged for the replacement."