The Robbo has collected over £350K in fines since 2010

C.R.E.A.M. get the money


Over the last six years, the Robinson Library has collected over £350,000 from library charges. A Freedom of Information request by The Tab revealed that in 2010/11 the total amount of overdue charges was £81,303. In the most recent academic year of 2015/16 there was a total of £42,291.24 charged for overdue items made from 37,867 overdue charges being issued.

The total culmination of overdue charges collected since 2010 was £354,708.24. Year on year total overdue charges to the library have been declining over the period the FOI request covered.

Hayley, third year Psychology, said: “I think people should hand things back on time. They get warnings and reminders, and if you’re smart enough to get into uni you’re smart enough to meet a simple returns deadline… They could spend money on microwaves.”

Natasha, third year Country Management, said: “The general consensus seems to be that none of us care about the fines. They should spend the £350k on a fucking banging microwave.”

A librarian told The Tab that she reckoned the money goes towards new books: “As far as I can see overdue charges are used to fund the library services, for example buying new books for the library.”

The highest charges issued in 2015/16 were all for the value of £30.

Here’s the full set of data.

  • 2010/11 £81,303.00
  • 2011/12 £72,774.00
  • 2012/13 £62,353.00
  • 2013/14 £52,444.00
  • 2014/15 £43,543.00
  • 2015/16 £42,291.24