[Web4lib] Request from Academic Libraries about Charging forPrinting

[Susan M. Lee]

The University of Great Falls Library has an FTE of appox 650
 
What system/software do you use?

We call it the honor system.  I'm not concerned with making money, but I am concerned about the library's paper budget and the fact that if they don't have to pay, they won't be think about what they want and need, they just hit the print button.  Students bring their count their printouts and bring the money to the circulation desk.


How do you manage or control it at your location, installed software
linked to student ID number, use cash, coin, debit card?

We take cash or check and write it down in a notebook.  The Acqusitions Clerk takes the cash up once a week.

Are students limited to a quantity per semester, or per day?

Everywhere on campus is free except the library and we've gotten alot of questions.  We tell students that since we are open to the public, their tuition shouldn't subsidize printing for the entire world.  During Finals Week we used to have free printing.  That stopped last year after one student tried to print over 5000 pages.  Other students had to wait over 45 minutes for their printouts to come out in the queue and our two on their last legs printers bit the dust.  The student in question wasn't looking at the articles to see if they were really on point, she just pulled up several hundred from a general ERIC search and just kept hitting the print button.  The student printer finally died after about 2000 pages and the staff printer ran out of toner after about 1500 more.  
 
We limped along all of fall semester using the staff printer for everyone.  That was a 14 year old HP Laserjet 4 that barely managed to do 3 pages a minute.  
 
Except for a few students, most are very happy to pay once we tell them the 5000 page saga.

What do you charge per page?  How was the cost determined?

We charge 10¢ per page, the same as the copy machine.  That cost hasn't changed since I got hired (25 years ago).  However, I've noticed the younger students have never seen or used a copier and are sometimes highly indignant about having to pay for photocopies.  Photocopies are free elsewhere on campus as well.  

Why it is a good idea, or why it is not a recommended course of action?

Charging depends on your students, your traffic and what is happening elsewhere on campus.  Our IT department keeps saying that they are going to come up with a charging solution of perhaps 500 pages per semester before paying, but they aren't sure how to implement it.

Any and all information that you are willing to share with me is greatly
appreciated.  In advance, thank you for your response.
 
One librarian answered this same question by saying that once they started printing, their printing costs went down 90%.
 
We did have a problem with a student who was printing to the library staff printer and sneaking into the staff room (right beside the student computer lab) to collect his prints.  He got told NO twice and wasn't pleased.  He told the library director that he could go anywhere he wanted on campus.  We solved that problem by putting a lock on the staff room door.  It's a pain, but... if he was stealing printouts, he could have been stealing other materials as well.


Sue
Susan Lee M.L.S.
Information Services Librarian
University of Great Falls Library
1301 20th St South
Great Falls, MT 59405
VOICE 406-791-5318
FAX 406-791-5395
http://www.ugf.edu/library/ <http://mail.ugf.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.ugf.edu/library/> 
mailto:slee at ugf.edu <mailto:slee at ugf.edu> 
So many books, so little time