Not to be mistaken for a library in Athens, Greece, these days, the Richmond Public Library has issued 20 “actions” to reduce costs and increase revenues at the request of Richmond City Council.
Higher late fees, more stringent borrowing limits, decreased janitorial services, developing corporate sponsorship and asking the public to volunteer at the library are some of the ideas chief librarian Gregg Buss has come up with (noting its union has expressed “concerns”).
The library plans to increase adult book late fees from 30 cents per day to 50; maximum fines will increase from $10 to $15; charges for unused holds will double from $1 to $2. The changes will raise about $100,000 over the next two years.
Meanwhile, loan periods would be reduced from four to three weeks and borrowing limits from 25 to 10 books at a time (e-book limits will go from 10 to five).
Among many janitorial cuts, the library will cut $1,000 from its budget by eliminating chair cleaning.
The library will also eliminate numerous fax lines for public use.
The report (click here) also states that the library could be targeting shorter hours of operation for some, or all, branches in the future.
The city contributed about $8.5 million last year to the public chain of library branches with budget increases of three per cent each year since 2011. It was feared that a lack of revenue generation would ultimately have to be made up with more city contributions.
The report found an assessment of library costs per capita ranked Richmond the third lowest at approximately $40; Burnaby and Vancouver were approximately $52 and $60 respectively.
Buss claims Richmond has the second highest annual visitation rate per capita across Canada with approximately two million visits.
Buss had previously told council the library is under mounting pressures to maintain print and e-book collections. As such, council gave the library an additional $225,000 this year but asked Buss to curtail costs.
Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie was particularly in support of the library reducing borrowing limits and loan periods.
Library services are traditionally a municipal responsibility.
The proposals go to a council meeting on Monday where they are expected to pass.
