The Bloomfield Public Library in New Jersey is charging for computer use.
The Bloomfield Public Library in New Jersey is charging for computer use.“Dennis Valentovic, the Bloomfield Library Board’s president, said he was surprised when he received a letter from American Library Association, which represents more than 64,000 libraries across the country, criticizing the fee. The ALA said, “Inevitably those hurt most by public library fees are persons with low or no income.”
Valentovic disagrees.
“Is a dollar an hour really going to prevent someone from using it if they really want to? Are we really denying anyone anything?” Valentovic asked, adding that if a person couldn’t afford the fee an exception would be made.”
Societal Values
If communities value the resources a free library can provide they will pay for it through the usual ways: taxes, donations, etc. The directors of the libraries choose how to spend these funds. (Stop me if I am wrong, here, I’m in a school library).
This library needs to either increase its revenue — which requires work in PR and in providing valuable services and materials. Or, it needs to work within the means it currently has.
Charging for anything except overdue and lost fines is against my personal philosophy, although I have willingly (when my PL charged for such things) paid a fifty cent fee for ILLs. But I can afford that — not all can. Free libraries remain one of the equalizers of our civilization.
Charging fees for services is a bad idea
Libraries should not go down the road of attaching monetary values and fees to different services as it marginalizes other services that do not have fees in the long run. Do we really want people to choose which services they are willing to pay the “free” public library for utilizing? We risk making ourselves relevant to only those that are willing to pay or who are able to afford to use the library.
Re:Societal Values
Yep.
Some libraries have fees to rent movies, and they should if they need to do so. My community library doesn’t even have security, so anyone can walk off with a book or DVD. Everyone’s got to do what it can. And the director clearly states that if someone cannot afford the price, it will be waived.
What a dilemma
People don’t realize… people don’t realize public libraries are in dire straits. There are several in my area that are on the brink of closing (one as soon as July). It’s tough. I’m sure this decision was an agonizing one for the staff of this library to reach — no one’s getting rich off a buck an hour internet access, believe me.
I maintain the computers at work. There are a lot of costs, hidden and otherwise. It’s not just a pay for the system sort of thing. We try to minimize costs, as I am sure this library has. I have cannibalized and reconstructed new computers from parts of old ones, just to keep things running.
When it comes down to it, though, I’m not entirely sure this public library made the right decision. I probably would have said, fine, no internet for anyone, and hoped someone would take notice and donations and grant money would roll in. Now they’re on the slippery slope of, “Well, prove you can’t pay a dollar.” How do you judge that?