Hi Sue,
Apologies for the lateness of my reply, largely due to annual leave commitments.
Here in West Dunbartonshire we abolished item reservation charges at the start of 2008/09. Our ethos with regard to charges, is that we aim to keep our services free wherever possible, and keep costs as low as we can where we cannot avoid them. For example, we don't charge overdue fines, instead we have a 60p admin charge for overdue letters (irrespective of the number of overdue items listed on the letter) which is sent out a full week after the items become overdue. We send a maximum of three letters, so £1.80 is the most we charge for a set of overdue items.
Previously, we charged 50p for reservations, and subsequently made this free. The argument we made to our Directorate was that the move would encourage lending, remove financial barriers and improve the service we provide to customers. It was agreed that the fee could be abolished if we increased our overdue letter admin charge mentioned earlier, from 50p to 60p in order to offset some of the financial loss.
Some statistics...
Number of reservations placed:
2007/08 - 7624
2008/09 - 11659
%increase - 53%
Overdue admin charge income:
2007/08 - £4961
2008/09 - £5728
Net increase - £767
Reservation fee income:
2007/08 - £1788
2008/09 - zero
Net loss - £1788
Overall, the move cost us about £1000 in the year, but as you can see it had a significant impact on reservations placed and subsequently, items borrowed. We're a very small authority, so I would expect greater returns in larger services.
It should also be noted that at the same time as we made these changes, we introduced a new LMS and OPAC. It is agreed that the increase in overdue income (£767) was smaller than anticipated, but due to more people renewing books online - again, increasing issues, so no bad thing!
On the whole, a very positive experience and well received by staff and the public.
Let me know if you need any more info.
Regards,
Richard.
Richard Aird
Senior Officer, ICT & Learning
Tel: 01389 608040
Mob: 07903 228952
Email: [log in to unmask]
Twitter: libr8
Libraries Section
Educational Services
West Dunbartonshire Council
19 Poplar Road
Broadmeadow Industrial Estate
DUMBARTON
G82 2RJ
-----Original Message-----
From: lis-pub-libs: UK Public Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sue Hyland
Sent: 09 June 2009 11:35
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Reservation Charges
I would be very grateful for any responses on the following:
Has your authority either removed or significantly reduced item reservation
charges in recent years?
If so, what arguments were made to support the change, and how was the
loss of income addressed?
What measurable impact did the change have on the number of reservations
made and the number of loans?
Any other comments, for or against.
Sue Hyland
Policy & Performance Officer
Buckinghamshire Culture & Learning Service
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