Quote:
Originally Posted by Barcey
Example: Michael Connelly 'The Burning Room'
Customer Price: $15.99
Libraries Pay: $106.00
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My neighborhood library is currently closed for a US$3,080,000 renovation. Collection size is about 35,000 volumes, giving a renovation price per volume of $88.
So add $88.00 to that $15.99, and you have $101.99. That's not $106.00, but what happens when operating expenses like salaries, utilities, and routine maintenance are added in? Well, looking at the operating budget, it looks to me like that might be another $10.00
per year.
Of course, there always is another side. The renovation cost is higher than it would be in many other communities. And the library doesn't just pay $106.00. It also has to, I believe, pay fees to Overdrive beyond the cost of books. Plus, the physical libraries provide support to the eBook infrastructure, such as when eBook patrons come in person to join the library or renew their card.
My feeling is that they should add everything up and be highly influenced, in deciding whether to buy paper or eBook, by the total cost of ownership.
As for the
www.fairpricingforlibraries.org, they have as much right as anyone else to express their opinion. My opinion is that fairness and prices don't have a relationship, except with necessities like basic foodstuffs.