Charging for Library Printouts

cogscilibrarian writes “Vivian Conan, a librarian in suburban NYC has an op-ed piece in The New York Times saying that ‘Library users shouldn’t have to pay to print from the web.’ She argues that in the olden days, patrons could spend all the time they wanted with library resources, but now many are limited to 30- or 60-minute sessions at computer terminals. What is the implication if they also can’t afford to print their material?”

cogscilibrarian writes “Vivian Conan, a librarian in suburban NYC has an op-ed piece in The New York Times saying that ‘Library users shouldn’t have to pay to print from the web.’ She argues that in the olden days, patrons could spend all the time they wanted with library resources, but now many are limited to 30- or 60-minute sessions at computer terminals. What is the implication if they also can’t afford to print their material?”Or a computer and Internet connection to access electronic holdings from home. With government documents going online as well as the growth of electronic subscriptions, printing costs are being transferred to users. Most libraries have at-cost printing charges to stave off abuse (think of the Kinko’s subcontracting you could do with free printing). Some campuses offer students a free number of copies per term. But the money’s got to come from somewhere.