A library notice that can be read two ways
A librarian has drafted a notice for the reference collection: 'Items borrowed from the reference collection must be returned within two weeks or a fine of 50c per day will be applied.' The committee's intended policy is that reference items may be borrowed for 14 days; after the due date a charge of 50c per day accrues until the item is returned; and an item remains overdue until it is returned, whatever has been paid. At the meeting two members read the draft differently. One said the 50c starts only on day 15; the other said the charge covers the whole borrowing period. A student who saw the notice asked whether paying 50c once means she can keep the book. The notice must fit on an A5 card, must be understood by a reader who has not spoken to staff, and must not exceed 35 words.
1. Identify two separate sources of ambiguity in the draft and give the competing readings for each.
Read the worked answer
Source 1 - 'or'. The conjunction presents returning and paying as alternatives, so a reader can conclude that the obligation is discharged by paying. That is the student's reading: 50c buys another day, or another month. The intended meaning is cumulative ('return it, and if you are late you also pay'), which 'or' cannot express. This is the more serious fault because it affects whether the item comes back at all.
Source 2 - the starting point of 'per day'. 'Within two weeks or a fine of 50c per day' does not say which days are charged. Reading A: days after the due date, which is what the committee meant. Reading B: every day of the loan period, which is the second member's reading and produces a charge from the moment of borrowing. Nothing in the wording rules B out, because the only time expression in the sentence is 'two weeks'.
A third, smaller fault is that 'applied' is passive and agentless - applied by whom, and when? On a public notice the passive is usually harmless, but here it hides the fact that a person at a desk will make the charge.
2. Rewrite the notice in no more than 35 words so that it matches the intended policy and cannot be misread. State your word count and justify two wording decisions.
Read the worked answer
Rewrite (32 words): 'Reference items may be borrowed for 14 days. After the due date, a fine of 50c per day will be charged, up to a maximum of EUR 10. Items must still be returned.'
Decision 1 - two sentences instead of one 'or'. The obligation to return and the consequence of lateness are separate facts and are now separate sentences, so no reader can trade one against the other. The final sentence does the extra work of blocking the 'I paid, so I keep it' reading.
Decision 2 - 'after the due date'. This is the only phrase that fixes the charge to a starting point. 'Per day' alone is a rate, not a period; the notice needs both. Note that 'within 14 days' was also replaced by 'for 14 days', because 'within' can be read as a deadline for returning rather than the length of the loan.
Digits rather than words ('14', '50c') suit a card read at a glance, and the passive 'will be charged' is acceptable because a notice of this kind is understood to be issued by the library.
3. The librarian wants to add the EUR 10 maximum because she thinks it makes the notice fairer. Decide whether she should, and say who should make that decision.
Read the worked answer
She should propose it, not add it.
The cap is a good idea on its own terms: an uncapped daily fine on a low-value item quickly becomes disproportionate, borrowers contest it, and staff end up waiving charges case by case - which is less fair than a published limit, not more. A cap also gives the borrower a reason to return the item rather than abandon it, since the debt stops growing.
But the cap is a policy change, not an editorial one. The notice is the public face of a decision the committee has already taken, and a librarian who quietly adds a maximum has changed the rule for everyone who reads the card and not for anyone who doesn't. Fines, refunds and appeals are exactly the matters a committee exists to settle.
So: draft the wording, bring it to the next meeting with a figure or two - how many items are currently overdue, what the average accrued charge is - and let the committee decide. If a borrower is charged before the meeting, the uncapped rule applies, which is another reason to raise it at the earliest opportunity.