Make sure to turn in those overdue library books.

After three notices, Hall County Libraries will turn patrons who haven’t paid their late fees over to a collections agency.

The statewide PINES library system will now only pay for two late notices in an effort to cut costs, said library Director Adrian Mixson.

The county will continue to send out a third and final warning if a fine still has not been paid after 90 days.

"The last one’s going to tell you, you owe this much money and if you don’t come in and take care of it, you’re going to collections," Mixson said. "It’s going on your credit report."

Mixson said the library system felt it was important to send out a third notice, even if the state will not be paying for it.

"We feel we ought to at least give them a stern warning that this is happening so they don’t come in and say they got caught by surprise," Mixson said.

"You actually get that stern warning and not just an overdue notice."

Mixson said the library would ideally like to send more notifications electronically to save paper and the expense of postage.

Currently, about 30 percent of library patrons get e-mail notifications.

"We, whenever possible, notify people by e-mail," Mixson said. "But not everybody has e-mail and not everybody wants to give you their e-mail."

One benefit of getting notifications electronically is an additional reminder three days before an item becomes overdue.

The library is bringing in a lot more money from late fees now than it did last year.

"We’re probably running about 10 percent more money in collections for late fees because we have a lot more people using the libraries," Mixson said.

Mixson said the library system anticipated collecting $59,000 this fiscal year, which started July 1 and ends June 30, 2010.

Through the end of November, they had already collected $30,500.

"It looks like we’re going to have a banner year," Mixson said.

The increase is a result of the higher volume of books being loaned out by libraries.

In the first five months of the last fiscal year, the library checked out 325,309 items, compared with 420,883 items in the same period this year.

"It’s been a busy year with a lot less money to spend on books too," Mixson said. "It’s good for us as far as more usage."