Lost and Found Policy
The Atlantic City Free Public Library is not responsible for the security of personal items brought into any library facility. People using the library are expected to keep their belongings, especially valuables such as wallets, purses, cell phones and laptops within their sight at all times.
The library is not responsible for unattended items that are mistaken as lost items. It is the responsibility of the owner to stay in sight of and keep track of all personal belongings at all times.
To the extent that there is readily available contact or ownership information, the library will make reasonable efforts to notify the owner. If the owner(s) has a library record, staff members are responsible for writing notes about the lost item(s) in the patron’s account in KOHA. In order to maintain the lost and found bin properly, the lost & found assigned staff member should create a log in Excel Sheet and update accordingly.
All unclaimed items found on the premises of any Atlantic City Free Public Library facility are disposed off in accordance with law N.J.S.A. 46:30C-1-5 following these guidelines:
A) Disposed Immediately: Hazardous and perishable items like- personal hygiene product, water bottle, juice, coffee, candy etc.
B) Disposed Same Day at closing: Hats, gloves, backpack, T-shirt etc. Items like these will be kept in the maintenance room and will be disposed of same day at closing by maintenance. Library staff/Person-in-charge will check the backpacks to make sure they don’t have any valuable items like wallets or personal documents before handing them over to maintenance.
C) Turned Over to maintenance After 7 Days: Bicycles that are chained to the bike rack for longer than 7 days will be removed by Person-in-charge/Admin.
D) Discarded after 7 Days (Admin office): Prescriptions/Medicine.
E) Discarded after 30 Days (Circulation Dept.): General lost and found items like-library cards, spectacles, keys, calculators, paper documents from printer or copy machine, keys, canes, diary, folders, etc. Items like these will be placed in a bag with the date, location found and person’s name if possible. They will be placed in the lost and found bin in slipping room for a period of 30 days. After 30 days all unclaimed items become property of Atlantic City Free Public Library and will be discarded. Before each lost and found item is returned, a patron must give a detailed description including the date it was left in the library and staff must verify the description matches the items in lost and found. This will ensure that items with similar physical characteristics are less likely given to wrong person.
F) Discarded after 30 Days (Administrative Office): Items containing sensitive personal information and items with monetary value like- wallet, credit card, State ID, purse. Items like these will be placed in a zip lock bag with date, time, location found and patron’s name and kept in the Admin Office for 30 days. To claim these items owner must present valid form of photo identification and detailed description of the lost items preferably during regular Admin business hours. On Saturdays Person-in-Charge can retrieve the lost items from Admin Office. If not claimed within 30 days lost items will be disposed of by shredding or other methods as appropriate.
G) Cash (Administrative Office): after 120 days, unclaimed cash should be donated to the ACFPL Foundation or to a local charitable agency. Items like these will be placed in a zip lock bag with the date, time, location found and patron’s information if available and kept in the Admin Office for 120 days. To claim these items owner must present valid form of photo identification and description of the lost items.
H) Securely wiped and discarded after 30 Days (Administrative Office): Flash drives, laptops, CD’s, floppy or zip disks, hard drives. Items like these will be kept in Admin Office and can be claimed with proper physical description, time and place they lost. After 30 days the library will dispose of unclaimed items by securely wiping the device and discarding them. Due to patron’s privacy Library staff will not access data saved on flash drives or other devices to determine the ownership.
Board Approved 11/24/2014
Revised 8/21/2023
The library is not responsible for unattended items that are mistaken as lost items. It is the responsibility of the owner to stay in sight of and keep track of all personal belongings at all times.
To the extent that there is readily available contact or ownership information, the library will make reasonable efforts to notify the owner. If the owner(s) has a library record, staff members are responsible for writing notes about the lost item(s) in the patron’s account in KOHA. In order to maintain the lost and found bin properly, the lost & found assigned staff member should create a log in Excel Sheet and update accordingly.
All unclaimed items found on the premises of any Atlantic City Free Public Library facility are disposed off in accordance with law N.J.S.A. 46:30C-1-5 following these guidelines:
A) Disposed Immediately: Hazardous and perishable items like- personal hygiene product, water bottle, juice, coffee, candy etc.
B) Disposed Same Day at closing: Hats, gloves, backpack, T-shirt etc. Items like these will be kept in the maintenance room and will be disposed of same day at closing by maintenance. Library staff/Person-in-charge will check the backpacks to make sure they don’t have any valuable items like wallets or personal documents before handing them over to maintenance.
C) Turned Over to maintenance After 7 Days: Bicycles that are chained to the bike rack for longer than 7 days will be removed by Person-in-charge/Admin.
D) Discarded after 7 Days (Admin office): Prescriptions/Medicine.
E) Discarded after 30 Days (Circulation Dept.): General lost and found items like-library cards, spectacles, keys, calculators, paper documents from printer or copy machine, keys, canes, diary, folders, etc. Items like these will be placed in a bag with the date, location found and person’s name if possible. They will be placed in the lost and found bin in slipping room for a period of 30 days. After 30 days all unclaimed items become property of Atlantic City Free Public Library and will be discarded. Before each lost and found item is returned, a patron must give a detailed description including the date it was left in the library and staff must verify the description matches the items in lost and found. This will ensure that items with similar physical characteristics are less likely given to wrong person.
F) Discarded after 30 Days (Administrative Office): Items containing sensitive personal information and items with monetary value like- wallet, credit card, State ID, purse. Items like these will be placed in a zip lock bag with date, time, location found and patron’s name and kept in the Admin Office for 30 days. To claim these items owner must present valid form of photo identification and detailed description of the lost items preferably during regular Admin business hours. On Saturdays Person-in-Charge can retrieve the lost items from Admin Office. If not claimed within 30 days lost items will be disposed of by shredding or other methods as appropriate.
G) Cash (Administrative Office): after 120 days, unclaimed cash should be donated to the ACFPL Foundation or to a local charitable agency. Items like these will be placed in a zip lock bag with the date, time, location found and patron’s information if available and kept in the Admin Office for 120 days. To claim these items owner must present valid form of photo identification and description of the lost items.
H) Securely wiped and discarded after 30 Days (Administrative Office): Flash drives, laptops, CD’s, floppy or zip disks, hard drives. Items like these will be kept in Admin Office and can be claimed with proper physical description, time and place they lost. After 30 days the library will dispose of unclaimed items by securely wiping the device and discarding them. Due to patron’s privacy Library staff will not access data saved on flash drives or other devices to determine the ownership.
Board Approved 11/24/2014
Revised 8/21/2023