Free or Fee
There are other ways to make or save money than charging for service
By Francine Fialkoff, Editor-in-Chief -- Library Journal, 05/15/2010
In a recent post to the Publib discussion list,a Contra Costa County, CA, librarian asked, "Could someone lead me to the web sites of any public libraries in the U.S. that charge patrons a fee to borrow new materials. Also, if anyone works for, or has worked for, a library that does so for new books, could you please share your experiences?"
There may have been some private responses to that post but, surprisingly among this group, none to the list itself. Still, the question got me thinking. In this economic environment, is a two-tiered system—a preferential one for those who can pay, another for those who must wait because they can't pay—something at which librarians or their funders might be looking? Aren't we asking users to pay twice, since they've already paid for the service with their tax dollars?
You can't blame that Contra Costa County Library (CCCL) staffer for asking, given the county's, and the state's, fiscal crisis. A PowerPoint slide from the Contra Costa County budget hearing for FY10/11 (on April 20) rather brutally summed up the situation, courtesy of an editorial in Florida's St. Petersburg Times: "Things aren't so bad here, we could be California." In the last 18 months, the library has lost $4 million and 19 staffers, some to attrition, according to deputy county librarian Cathy Sanford.
As it turns out, the CCCL query was more of a fishing expedition than a full-blown plan. "We're not on the verge of anything," says Sanford, noting that a vocal library supporter had asked if it was viable for the library to charge for new books.
The idea of fees for service is not new, but, given the current financial reality, it may be seen as a new revenue source in some systems. Back in the late 1980s, Baltimore County Public Library (BCPL) instituted fees for videos and reserves, and others followed suit, to some heated debate. At the time, BCPL used the fees to start up a popular video collection; it didn't have the money, and videos were a lot more expensive than DVDs are now. Despite DVDs driving circulation in many libraries, they're still the "stepchild," treated differently, sometimes with fees for borrowing, often with high fines for late returns.
At BCPL, however, some things have changed. In recent years, says Jamie Watson, BCPL collection development coordinator, revenues for popular DVDs have been declining, with the advent of options like Netflix and Redbox. Now, BCPL has dumped some of those fees, like $2 to rent DVD classics or series, including TV shows, as well as the $1 for reserves for books.
"There's no question that the number of reserves we got was fewer because of the charge," says Todd Krueger, collection development selector. The library is retaining the $1 charge for items on order, however, and the $2 fee for popular DVDs.
Some of the impetus for change came when BCPL moved to a shared, or floating, collection. "We're educating our public that not everything is a dollar to reserve," says Watson. "We want materials to float, so we're saying to our users, 'You can get it quickly and for free.'" Meanwhile, with a floating collection, BCPL is saving money by not having to truck books back to their "home" branch.
Changing practice, like adding floating collections, has led a system once considered a bellwether for fees to drop them. Changing economics, like that facing libraries in California, has caused another library system to inquire about implementing fees for new books.
The concept of free library service shouldn't be mutable. Charging for DVDs is just as antithetical to the free library as is charging for books. There are other ways for users to support the library, even setting up a "wish list" for patrons to purchase books for the library, as some systems have done. Preferential treatment, two-tiered services take us down a slippery slope of restricted access.
As Sanford says, "We will always look at the pros and cons and [ask], 'Is it a customer service?'" adding that free services are "always our preference." It's more than a preference. It's a core value of the public library movement since its beginning.
