Library Fees - Impact People Who Actually Use Libraries

LA libraries seek new funding sources
Municipal Risk: December 23, 2010

Los Angeles county has a $130 million library budget. Looking out at the horizon, officials see a $22 million per year deficit – for at least the next 10 years.

With recent ballot initiatives passing in favor of capital funding for the system facilities, the LA library system is very heavily supported by its community, said Peter Persic, PR Director.

Yet, like all other municipal officials around the country, officials are still reticent to embrace the idea of charging a minor book rental fee to library users. “It’s an issue libraries around the country are grappling with, especially in light of the mission to be a free public library,” said Persic.

Here at MunicipalRisk, we see an enormous opportunity to supplement and possibly transform library budgets with revenue driven by usage.

A new book at Barnes & Noble costs $30. A movie rental costs $5 at Blockbuster or $10/month at Netflix. Average monthly cable bills are $100+. But, for some reason local officials are stuck on a centuries old idea that libraries should be completely free. Imagine just a 25 cent rental fee per item loaned by the library. In LA County, where 18 million items were checked out in 2009, that would’ve meant $4.5 million in revenue for the system.

Conceivably, user fees could easily be capped for library members, or even unlimited usage pricing options could be offered for frequent users.

The ultimate question is why should legislators increases taxes to everyone when user fees would just impact the people who actually use the library services?