[ILL-L] Charging ILL fees to public library patrons

[ppadovan at trlib.org]

Dear ILL colleagues:
    As some of you may know already, the public library system I work for is facing a severe budget crunch following the failure of a recent library levy. As is often the case in these situations, ILL is the target for a lot of suggestions about cuts and fees.

   One of the ideas being bandied about is that we start charging our patrons fees for ILL requests. This is being suggested as a revenue generating scheme. Washington state law forbids charging fees for "basic library services," but many seem to regard ILL as beyond a basic library service. (I don't agree, personally.)

     I need to gather information, and am therefore appealing to any of you who work at Washington state public libraries which charge fees to their patrons for ILL borrowing to contact me off list. Also, if you know of any Washington state public libraries which charge ILL fees to their patrons, but who may not be on this list, to pass that information to me so I may contact them for details.

     What I need to know at this time is: which public library you work for, where in washington state it is located, and how much you charge per ILL request to your patrons and whether payment is required in advance (at the time a request is submitted) and whether or not it's refundable (that is, if you cannot fill the request.)

      Please note: I am talking about charging your patrons a fee for them to submit a request, not about passing on the cost of requests to patrons when you have to pay a fee to another library in order to fill the request.

      Thanks for your help, it's much appreciated.
Best regards, Patrick Padovan
Timberland Regional Library ILL (UOJ)
ppadovan at trlib.org