por Peter Warfield
Executive Director, Library Users Association
San Francisco Public Library wants the Board of Supervisors to say it is OK to charge $115 for certain lost or damaged books. The library also wants the Supervisors to say a dozen other fees are OK — for example, $20 to scan a photograph, and eleven fees related to free use of community rooms, such as $30 to use a microphone and $30 per hour for a PowerPoint presentation.
We think these fees are not OK because they hurt poor people the most, and are not related to the actual cost of replacing the book or providing the service. The fees also discourage people from using each service.
In addition, the $115 lost/damaged book fee is very different from the Library’s long-time rule for its own lost books, which allows replacement of the book, or payment of replacement cost plus a $5 processing fee. Policy for books lost from other library systems has been to follow the lending library’s policy – typically replacement cost plus a small processing fee.
The full Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on these fees July 15. We think letters and calls to the Supervisors by San Franciscans can help prevent these fees from becoming permanent.
San Franciscans have spent many millions of dollars on a library, which officially says it is “dedicated to free and equal access to information, knowledge, independent learning and the joys of reading for our diverse community.” And just last November, the citizens voted to guarantee that the library would receive an estimated $2 billion for the next 15 years and more when they approved Proposition D. So, San Franciscans deserve better than to have harsh new fees imposed that discourage use of their facilities.
Unfortunately, these fees were installed more than a year ago, without approval by the Board of Supervisors or the Library Commission. That is why the library now wants the Board to give its approval retroactively.
Not all books are affected. The $115 fee for a lost or damaged book applies only if it was obtained by the patron from another library system, using the library’s “LINK+” program. The library has said it will try to help patrons pay less than the $115 fee — by asking the owning library to accept a replacement book, or to accept the actual replacement cost plus a small fee. But there is no guarantee that the owning library will permit this, and no requirement in the LINK+ rules.
LINK+ is a consortium (group) of about 49 libraries in California and Nevada. By contrast, traditional inter-library loan (ILL) can access literally a thousand times more libraries — with millions more books.
ILL provides access to books and other materials worldwide, including in 4,000 Asian Pacifi c libraries, and more than 800 in Latin America — while LINK+ gives none. Although library users may still use ILL, they must try LINK+ first, and may only use ILL if LINK+ does not have the book.
The library says the main benefits of LINK+ are automating patron requests and quicker delivery than ILL.
An additional bad effect of LINK+ is that if the patron cannot pay the necessary fee, he or she will be unable to borrow anything from the library – and will be unable to request any books from LINK+ or ILL.
You can help stop the Supervisors approving the LINK+ $115 lost/damaged book fee by writing the Supervisors (email: Board.of.Supervisors@sfgov.org) or telephoning your Supervisor, or both. Then the library may come closer to its mission of providing “free and equal access.”
