Should free Public Libraries remain free?

[doreen]

@Blackberry

You mean it hasn’t been your experience that you can only get a lot of books by going on the waiting list, or that some libraries charge for it? If you mean the latter, it hasn’t been my experience either, I never considered that they might do that anywhere before today.

It hasn’t been my experience that

For a lot of books (not just new releases) the only way to ever get it is to get on the waiting list for it.

Certain new releases, yes. Or I might have to request an old book that the system only has one copy of from another branch. But eventually ( normally within a couple of months) , that new release is no longer a “new release” or “hot pick” or whatever my library is calling it this month , and it will become easy to get it without being on a waiting list.

[Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus]

@Bryan_Ekers

There are libraries around here that charge fees - for non-residents. The Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, a network of ten major libraries, charges $100 a year to non-Quebecois.

But wait…if you don’t live in Quebec, why would you want to pay for a year’s worth of privileges?

The Westmount Public Library charges $130/year for nonresidents of Westmount.

This seems fair. It’s like those university library systems that offer borrowing privileges to the local community for an annual fee.

[Justin_Bailey]

@Blackberry

Yeah but it’s not nearly as expensive as the buildings themselves. If they’re going to let people borrow any books for free, then I think it only makes sense to include books put on hold. How much do libraries charge for it anyway?

The lowest I’ve heard of is a quarter while the highest I’ve seen is $2.

And trust me, the salaries made to the multiple employees required to make an interlibrary loan service work are much more than the electric bill on an already existing building.