Surrey Libraries responds to online concerns over damaged book charges<\/p>\n
Published 10:00 am Thursday, July 2, 2026<\/p>\n
A post about damage charges at the Semiahmoo Library in South Surrey was shared in a White Rock-South Surrey community Facebook group on June 17.<\/p>\n
Discussions began when a White Rock resident claimed her husband had been told twice that books he returned to the Semiahmoo branch were \u201cdripping wet\u201d and that he would have to pay to replace them.<\/p>\n
The post generated dozens of comments, with some people sharing similar experiences involving damaged or missing books, while others suggested patrons speaks with library staff of management. Some commenters also speculated that indoor and outdoor book return bins may have been tampered with and suggested involving police.<\/p>\n
Following the online discussion, Peace Arch News contacted Surrey Libraries for comment about the incident and whether similar situations had occured.<\/p>\n
Meghan Savage, acting director of public services for Surrey Libraries, said that the organization is aware of the online discussion but does not believe it reflects a broader problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this point, the concern appears to be tied to a small number of reports that gained attention online,\u201d said Savage. \u201cWe are not seeing evidence of a widespread issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Savage explained that books are naturally susceptible to liquid damage due to being made of paper, and staff are required to regularly inspect returned materials throughout the day at all Surrey Libraries branches.<\/p>\n
She said when an item appears damaged, staff follow established procedures before any charges are applied. \u201cWe are inspecting the item, checking its condition and documenting it. If there\u2019s an item or multiple items that appear wet, staff are checking whether there\u2019s an issue with the book drop return area.\u201d<\/p>\n
Savage also noted that staff look for signs of any tampering and will determine whether multiple returned items have been affected.<\/p>\n
Savage explained that if a book is damaged beyond repair, the library may charge the borrower the recorded replacement cost of the item, along with a processing fee, because it can no longer remain in circulation.<\/p>\n
However, she emphasized that patrons are contacted as soon as possible, which is typically within 24 hours, so that they can review the damaged item and its documentation with staff before the matter is resolved.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand why people would be concerned by these comments. Nobody wants to be surprised by a damage charge, and we take that very seriously,\u201d said Savage.<\/p>\n
She added that Surrey Libraries aims to make borrowing accessible by offering indoor and outdoor return slots at many branches, but encourages anyone with concerns to return materials directly to the service desk.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf anyone is at all worried, I encourage them to come in, return materials directly to the staff desk instead of the return slot. We can review the situation with them, explain the charges, and work with them on next steps,\u201d shared Savage.<\/p>\n
She also recommended patrons quickly inspect borrowed materials when checking them out and notify staff of any existing damage so it can be documented on the item\u2019s record. \u201cWe don\u2019t want patrons held responsible for damage that clearly happened before they returned them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, she said the goal is to protect the library\u2019s collection rather than penalize borrowers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goal is not to penalize people, it\u2019s to replace collection items so they remain available for the community,\u201d she said. \u201cSo we just encourage them to please come talk to us. We\u2019ll review, and we can look at it together and work towards a resolution that makes sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Surrey Libraries says patrons who have questions about damaged materials or replacement fees are encouraged to speak with staff at their local branch. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Surrey Libraries responds to online concerns over damaged book charges Published 10:00 am Thursday, July 2, 2026 A…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":777288,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[49,48,87674],"class_list":["post-777287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-surrey","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-surrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}