Public libraries are walking a tightrope. They are a free service to all, but increasing funding cuts have some libraries turning to a wide variety of revenue-generation strategies to ensure financial security. Gift and coffee shops, meeting room rentals, classes, and more are being launched in hopes of filling funding gaps. In fact, in a recent…

Roberta Stevens and Kent Oliver are campaigning hard for the presidency of the American Library Association (ALA). Stevens is outreach projects and partnerships officer at the Library of Congress. Oliver is executive director of the Stark County District Library in Canton, Ohio. They have debated, discussed, and posted web sites, Facebook pages,…

Discusses the concept of privatization--i.e., the process of turning over public functions to private industry--as it relates to libraries. Charging for services such as online searching and interlibrary loan, the difficulty of pricing, and the effects of entrepreneurial librarianship on service and scholarship are considered. Seven references are…

Attempts to identify the trends, the issues, and the political nature of the debate over for-profit libraries, and discusses the precedents and practical aspects of user charges in an effort to offer some guidance to librarians faced with the decision of whether to charge for new information services. (Author/PF)

Suggests a decision-making rationale to use when deciding whether or not to charge library patrons for services or materials. (Author/KP)

Considers the issue of information as a freely shared resource or a commodity for sale, and discusses a disagreement between OCLC and the State of Wisconsin, which recently adopted resolutions supporting free access to data in all forms if they are provided by publicly supported bodies. (MES)

Canadian Library Association Annual Conference report. (Author)

New light on a confused subject, taken from data gathered from practicing architects in 24 states. (Author)

Librarians should expend less effort on debates about fees for services; instead they should seek to provide those services in the fairest possible manner. Cooperation with vendors, administrators, politicians, and others offers an opportunity to minimize through special subsidies the costs of the services to individual users. References are…

Reviews current methods of public library financing through governmental support at the local, state, and federal level. The imposition of user fees is proposed as a method of preserving equity; i.e., individuals receiving the benefits would bear the costs. (JVP)

Examines the role of the library in contemporary society and discusses the various options available for their fiscal support in the future. The use of user fees to finance selected services--to expand some and improve others--is advocated only as a supplement to support from general tax revenue. (Author/JVP)

The interests of libraries and users are best served when library services are provided without fee. Policy makers must be convinced that library services are a combination of public and merit goods deserving governmental funding. (RAA)

Briefly traces the history of video pricing, emphasizing the pricing disparity for home and public performance use of videos. Provides advice in dealing with vendors and in shopping for reasonably priced videos: when to wait for prices to lower on public performance video or to wait for home video versions. (JKP)

Describes the inequities and inefficiencies created by user fees in public libraries and publicly supported academic libraries and agencies. Alternatives to user fees are suggested. (KP)

Discussion of consequences of library automation argues that technology should be used to augment access to information. Online public access catalogs are considered in this context, along with several related issues such as system incompatibility, invasion of privacy, barriers to database access and manipulation, and user fees, which contribute…