The Ottawa Public Library is encouraging patrons to pick up after themselves, by introducing a new $1.00 fee.
The new restocking fee rolled out last month, and is a part of a fee adjustment plan outlined in the Ottawa Public Library 2018 Operations Budget.
According to Ottawa Public Library spokesperson, Monique Brûlé, the restocking fee was not implemented to generate revenue for the library, but rather to improve wait times and increase user satisfaction.
Library expert Amber Lannon, of the MacOdrum Library, said that although levying a fee to promote library use sounds counter-intuitive, the fee is likely to increase user access. She said that by forcing people to pick up their books, the Ottawa Public Library is promoting, “fair and equitable access to the collection for everyone.”
But library users have mixed feelings about the new fee.
An Ottawa Public Library user who wished to go unnamed, said, “If I start getting nicked for missing holds, then I will definitely have to stop using the hold system, and thus the library.”
Several library users have expressed concern about what to do when multiple items placed on reserve show up on the same day. One library user commented, “I put a ton of books on hold, and do my best to manage them, but sometimes a half dozen or so show up at once. Often, I’ve not been able to pick them up on time. Since this new $1.00 fee, I have been cancelling holds—which I’d say has decreased my overall usage of the library.”
The plan to implement restocking fees goes as far back as 2016. Minutes of the Ottawa Public Library Board meeting states that The Board approved the new fees in December 2016. The adjusted fee schedule was intended to start in 2017, but was delayed until the following year in order to, “align with new cash handling equipment, policies, and procedures.”
Councillor Marianne Wilkinson who serves on the Ottawa Public Library Board said when books aren’t picked up, it slows down the whole system. Wilkinson said, “If people order a book and it comes in, and they don’t pick it up after a certain number of days, then we have to send it back. Some books have a line-up.”
In fact, some books have nearly one-thousand users waiting for a copy. The Ottawa Public Library released a list of the most requested books last week, and Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff landed at the top with 960 requests.
Wilkinson said, “When you put something on hold, you are hindering other people from getting that book.”
Beyond long wait times, when a book isn’t picked up, it will need to be re-shelved which Wilkinson believes is a waste of resources. “We have to send the book back to our operations. That’s an extra trip for people, picking up, and carrying, and hauling back and forth unnecessarily.” In addition, drivers must go between branches all across Ottawa. Long hours can pose a problem for the unionized staff and volunteer drivers.
“The library is limited under union contracts in how many volunteer staff they can employ,” said Wilkerson.
Wilkinson said that the restocking fee will not even begin to cover the cost of transportation or labour. “That’s beside the point,” she said. “We didn’t do it for that. We did it to keep people aware that they’ve asked something and need to follow through. They put a fee in to deter people from not picking up their books. If you don’t pick it up, then you’re making it more difficult for the library to provided services.”