Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg
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. |
Wow, you have to admit you're really reaching there.
Operating costs have nothing to do with how much the libraries pay the publishers. If there are operating cost savings they should be returned to the tax payers or redirected to other library services. It's not free money for the publishers.