User Fees in Public Libraries: a Study to Investigate Charged Services and the Views of Library Managers

Abstract

This research project investigates the extent of user charges in a sample of New Zealand Public libraries. Three main issues relating to user fees are discussed: the services which bear charges and the levels of those charges, how the decision to charge is arrived at, and the attitude of library managers to user charges. The extent to which user charges are used as a source of revenue in libraries is related to the provision of services as laid out in the Local Government Act of 2004, and the concept of private and public good. Revenue generated by user fees is often monitored and enforced by local government agencies. The level of charging is often arrived at through a consultative process between council departments and the libraries, with the revenue demands of the council in mind. The inter-relationship of these two factors is brought out in this study. Finally, the opinions of the library managers relating to various factors in user charges show that there is a general acceptance of user fees, but that some are concerned with the level of fees charged by their libraries.