[Publib] Charging patrons for programs

[Mary Soucie]

Beth,
I can respond to your question from two different viewpoints. At my
current library, we charge for some programs. This hasn't really been
consistent so last year we had a discussion about which programs to
charge for, why we charge, etc. We always charge for bus trips- although
a pretty nominal fee that doesn't cover the cost of the bus. We decided
to charge for any programs that cost over $500. We have just a few that
hit the threshold. We do not charge for computer classes. In the past,
we did charge for craft programs. Our patrons never seemed to mind this.
we will be revisiting this policy soon as I am working on the budget for
the next fiscal year, which begins in July. My current library is in a
semi-rural community, and we are a district library. Our patron base in
9229.
 
In a previous life, I worked as the Children's Librarian in a low income
suburb of Chicago. We began charging a nominal fee for kids programs due
to the number of no-shows. I'm talking a small fee of $2 per program. It
did seem to make a difference in lowering the no-shows. 
 
We've talked briefly here about instituting a small fee for that reason
but have resisted so far. Either way, the fees wouldn't cover the cost
of the program. 

Hope this is helpful,
Mary
 
Mary J. Soucie, MLIS
Library Director
Wilmington Public Library District
Visit the world @ your library(tm)
201 S Kankakee St
Wilmington IL 60481
(815) 476-2834
mjsoucie at wilmingtonlibrary.org
 
Wilmington Public Library District is committed to providing excellent
comprehensive service to its community.
 
 

________________________________

From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:publib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Beth
Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2008 12:48 PM
To: publib at webjunction.org
Subject: [Publib] Charging patrons for programs


Hi All-
 
Please excuse cross posting.
 
In this age of budget cuts, my library system is considering charging
patrons a nominal entrance fee to attend library programming to help
offset the cost of the professional performers/teachers (because we just
don't have the staff to do all programming in house and the system
cannot seem to arrive at a reasonable maximum performance fee).
Personally I think this idea won't wash very well for the more urban
part of our demographic, but I was curious to see if this is becoming
more common nowadays.
 
*Has any other library begun charging patrons entrance/nominal fees to
attend a library sponsored program? What are your good and bad
experiences with this? How did you implement it and explain it to your
patrons? How did your patrons react?
 
*Also, how many of you offer computer classes to your patrons? How many
of you charge them a fee to attend those classes? I'm looking for
reasoning to keep teaching computer classes at the library - our
community services director is now rethinking offering computer classes
in the library at all.
 
Thanks in advance (as always) for all of your help! Feel free to shoot
me an email at the address below.

-- 
Beth Borene
Youth Services Librarian
beth.borene at gmail.com
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