So bad behaviour goes unpunished due to economic upside?

Not something I'd want.

What do they do when there's an increase in bad behaviour which was previously addressed by fines?

> So bad behaviour goes unpunished due to economic upside?

No, that I didn't say that. I said there are no fines. You cannot check anything out if you have something over due and after a certain number of days it goes to collections. The library doesn't deal with fines. Which part of that policy would you be negatively affected by?

Surely the cost-benefit analysis of the fines would need to include the effect they have on the availability, loss, and/or destruction of the books.

If you are being sarcastic in order to make that point, that may be too subtle to communicate with most people that don't think of it on their own.

I am not being sarcastic. It has been great in out city. For some reason everyone outside the city tries to jump through a lot of hoops on why not charging fines to citizens is a bad idea. You people are interested in availability issues I suggest you reach out to the library and ask if it has been a problem. The number 619-236-5800.

The actual outcomes are irrelevant to my point, which is that you need to consider the effect on people's behavior when evaluating a policy (prospectively or retrospectively). You made it sound as if this was not done.