As promised, here is a collation of replies from libraries about their policies. My request came soon after a similar one from Martin, whose summary you have no doubt seen, the reason being that I am doing my survey at the request of management - so I didn't realise I was duplicating because I'm not normally involved with this kind of thing. So sorry about that. None of my respondents mentioned that they had replied to Martin, so these could be entirely new results.
3 libraries said they charge £50 for individual membership, and two charge £75. The only corporate membership mentioned was for £200, a charge set 3 years back and now being reviewed. One library offers free access by arrangement, for charitable organisations and two allow the public to join as well as non-NHS health professionals. Most libraries offer a pretty full range of facilities and only charge the same extra rates as they do to NHS personnel - usually services like i.l.l.s and literature searching. One library charges an additional £30 to non-NHS members for providing a current awareness service. Another library does not allow use of their intranet.
For comparison, at present we ask for £30 from individuals and £60 from companies, which allows this latter group to nominate up to 6 named individuals to use our library. Extra charges are made for i.l.l.s and assisted literature searches. We don't permit use by those without some sort of health connection.
Thanks again to all who replied. I hope you find this summary useful.
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