Soon, non-Detroiters could pay to use library

Robin In My Book Blum noticed News (lets just say news, it’s not really sad, I should’ve read the details) from MI, where about 150,000 suburbanites and other Michiganders who use the Detroit Public Library may soon have to pay for access to its 6.6 million books and nationally-renowned special collections.

September 17, 2003 by Uncategorized 7

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7 Responses

  1. Anonymous Patron says:
    September 17, 2003 at 6:49 am

    non-resident user fees should be the norm
    The “sad news” comment is a telling indication of a mindset that believes that since libraries are funded by taxes they should be available to the whole world. This was a defensible position back in the bygone days of full employment and a stable middle class, but times have changed, and librarians had better adjust to them.

    Reply
  2. Mock Turtle says:
    September 17, 2003 at 7:18 am

    Re:non-resident user fees should be the norm
    I would tend to agree, though I would hope the cost to the individual might not be too exorbitant.

    In fact, I assumed this was common practice for metropolitan public libraries. Atlanta has been doing it for a long time, at least since the 1970s. It started out cheap though … about $5, IIRC … then they jacked it up a huge chunk all at once in the early 80s, to around $70 per year, per person. Ouch! I don’t know what it costs these days.

    Reply
  3. Anonymous says:
    September 17, 2003 at 3:52 pm

    Re:non-resident user fees should be the norm
    The “sad news” comment was not a telling indication of anything other than a midset that glanced at the story and missed a rather important point.
    Upon further review, it’s not sad, except for the folks who appear to have been getting a free ride till now.

    Reply
  4. Anonymous Patron says:
    September 17, 2003 at 7:37 pm

    Re:non-resident user fees should be the norm
    I don’t know if free ride is an accurate statement. The State had been providing funding beyond what was provided to other public libraries. However, now that the State has cut those funds, DPL does seem to have a good argument for charging non-resident fees.

    Reply
  5. Steffers says:
    September 18, 2003 at 6:25 pm

    Re:non-resident user fees should be the norm
    I think I have to disagree, “Free-ride” is pretty accurate… at least in the minds of our users. I won’t speak for other parts of the country but around here most people consider the library a free ride. Even non-residents, who are shocked when asked to fork over $25 for a library card. I have heard our users say “I thought public libraries were free.”

    We get very little of our money from the state government. The majority of our funds come from county property taxes. So, at least here, libraries are not free and have never been free. The residents just don’t realize that they have already paid for the service.

    Reply
  6. Anonymous Patron says:
    September 18, 2003 at 9:03 pm

    fees should be norm
    Yup people who pay for it should get to play with it.

    Are they getting state/county money? Hmm, but counties are much smaller back there.

    It’s too bad that there’s not interlibrary loan for cards and other things. If you’re a member of a library which can request books, is there a reason you shouldn’t be able to use the library they come from? Or at a reduced cost, if you’re gonna figure that more people in the library == less space.

    — Ender, Duke_of_URL

    Reply
  7. Steffers says:
    September 19, 2003 at 11:18 pm

    Re:fees should be norm
    I agree totally.

    I don’t know if they are getting state/county money but it could be that their funding is drying up. They could be hitting a situation like these Poor Souls and losing their funding. Administrators are looking for ways to supplement dwindling budgets.

    I would imagine that some libraries have reciprocal lending agreement if they are part of a consortia. I wonder if there are other places where no consortia exists but libraries allow residents & non-residents to use facilities at little, or no, cost.

    Reply

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