Feedback: Letters to LJ, November 1, 2010
“Libraries should be free, or not free, not in-between. Adding nominal fees... is just an exercise in spinning one’s wheels” Nov 1, 2010Fees aren’t worth it
I’m glad Beth Dempsey politely points out that charging nominal fees for library services is often not worth the trouble (“For [Love] or [Money],” LJ 9/15/10, p. 20–23). Libraries should be free, or not free, not in-between. Adding nominal fees, and I include fine collection, is an exercise in spinning one’s wheels.
Whenever I hear of a library charging 50¢ or $1 for item requests (other than expensive interlibrary loans), I can only think of the hundreds or thousands of expensive staff hours spent explaining the fee, charging the fee, collecting the fee, etc. An easier and cheaper solution to limit frivolous requests is simply to limit the number of holds a patron can have at any given time.... Instituting floating collections in a library system can also save a lot of staff time processing holds and keeps collections refreshed.
Another idea is eliminating overdue fines. Many libraries have discontinued charging fines, instead implementing lost-book fees for items never returned. If a book isn’t returned, an overdue notice is sent explaining that the retail value of the book is owed until the book is returned and that a collection agency would be notified within a certain period, jeopardizing the patron’s credit rating.
I used to work at an urban library where...we collected about $1000 a week in fines, in a “good” week. The dollar value of the fines was worth about 30–40 staff hours per week. We certainly spent more than 30–40 staff hours per week...arguing with patrons about fines, collecting the fines, explaining the fines, counting the fines, and depositing the fines. Electronic fine collection doesn’t entirely solve this issue; there’s the cost of equipment and credit card fees, plus there will always be those who will pay cash, so you end up administering two payment systems.
—Ned Richards, MLS, Newton, MA
Why no donations?
I can’t believe that Beth Dempsey didn’t include one mention of the idea of asking for donations to supplement the increasingly tiny budget rations supplied by government (“For [Love] or [Money],” LJ 9/15/10, p. 20–23). Donations are optional and therefore nonthreatening and do not reflect negatively on the library as do fees and sales. Some people will give a penny a year, and others will drop millions of dollars, so...it all evens out.
I’ve been rather destitute for the past two years while in library school, and yet even I automatically donate $5 a month online to the Jane Goodall Institute. JGI convinced me that it does great things all over the world and offers many options for donation levels.... I’ve been able to help support it effortlessly even while penny-pinching. I’ve never once seen a library have a loud and visible “pledge drive” to raise awareness about donating (these rake in outrageous sums of money for radio stations), and I have rarely seen a library website feature a big, shiny button that says, “Donate to the library.” Many patrons would donate if they knew they could and heard loud and clear how much it would help, even more if they were coaxed by the tax deductions....
—Name withheld upon request
Ripe for open source
How can integrated library system (ILS) vendors remain viable? As someone who has had substantial exposure to open source systems, I’m dumbfounded that libraries would consider continuing their relationship with ILS vendors in its current form. The constant cutbacks at public libraries, the increase in support fees from vendors, and the stagnation of hardware on site strike me as creating a ripe time for open source hosted solutions....
—Ken Hovanes, Huntsville, AL
Unfair to grannies
I was disappointed in the review of Raging Grannies: The Action League (LJ 10/1/10, p. 53).... It’s probably unfair that this 30-minute educational video about a group of women in the San Francisco Bay Area was reviewed with and compared to Rough Aunties, a 103-minute documentary about a volunteer group in South Africa. They are starkly different cultures with starkly different political and social problems. The Action League showcases women over 50, some as old as 90, who don’t let their privileged lives keep them from creating positive change for the environment, peace, and workers’ rights. It’s unfortunate that the reviewer doesn’t quite get the Grannies’ most effective method: by “calling attention to themselves” they...call attention to issues of social justice that affect the lives of people in their community. Our video documents some of that change.... These women dispel stereotypes about age and underscore how important it is to stay vital and engaged as one grows older....
—Pam Walton, Pam Walton Prods., Mountain View, CA
Correction
The following first novels (“Fall Firsts,” LJ 10/1/10) are published by Plume: Penguin Group (USA). In Pop Fiction, Lise Saffran’s Juno’s Daughters. Jan. (LJ 10/15/10) and Rain Mitchell’s Tales from the Yoga Studio. Dec. (LJ 10/1/10). In Literary Fiction, Philip Stephens’s Miss Me When I’m Gone. Jan. We apologize for the errors.
