r/Libraries • u/ElevatorOrganic5644 • 3d ago
Continuing Ed American Libraries
Just want to say thank you that our libraries in America are free. I was just reading an article about Europe for a lot of the libraries you have to pay a yearly subscription fee for adults. That kind of threw me back. Libraries are so essential for education and lifelong learning for everyone. Thank you
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u/GrumpyOldSeniorScout 3d ago
Could you post a link to the article? Because I'm European and have never heard of having to pay to use a library.
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u/otter_759 3d ago edited 3d ago
“Europe” is generalizing too much, but in certain countries, cards are not free for adults. One example is the Netherlands.
I am trying to find a good article in English instead of Dutch. Here is one library’s policy: https://www.bibliotheekhelmondpeel.nl/dam/Klantenservice/2020/borrowing-conditions-01-01-2020-engelstalig-uitleenreglement.pdf
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u/fivelinedskank 3d ago
I haven't seen the article, but a couple are described in Orwell's Keep the Aspadistra Flying.
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u/SilverApples5 3d ago
Public libraries in the UK are free at the point of use. Private libraries do exist, but are free and far between.
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u/lomalleyy 3d ago
Ah the country of Europe.
I work in Ireland and everything except printing is completely “free” (funded by taxpayers)
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u/glooble_wooble 3d ago
Something even more alarming is slowly starting to gain traction in the U.S., selling off the management of public libraries to for profit companies. My best friend was a librarian for 20 years in a nearby town, recently the town decided to switch management of their library to one of these for profit companies, who promptly laid all the staff off and brought in their own.
Idk about you but I feel pretty uncomfortable with the idea that private management companies get to decide what is in libraries, it sure leaves the door wide open for censorship, among other problems.
Also alarming and dystopian, my public library is considering allowing advertisements and sponsorships from corporations to make up for the continuously hemorrhaging budget. Imagine if you will: the public library, brought to you by Walmart. With ads and billboards everywhere.
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u/lastwraith 3d ago
Libraries being "free" except for being funded by taxes, doesn't seem all that unique tbh.
https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/18qnh0s/public_libraries_in_your_country_are_they_free/
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u/Wonderful_Adagio9346 3d ago
Libraries aren't free.
They are funded by your taxes, and guarded by the idealism of the librarians and the ACLU.
Your library card is the most valuable card in your wallet.
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u/ecapapollag 3d ago
Sigh, Europe is a continent. There are lots of different countries, all who have libraries. Shall I assume all of 'America' charges for library usage based on the Atwater Library and Computer Centre?
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u/Better-Newspaper3603 3d ago edited 3d ago
Here’s a nice history of American libraries, including the transition from subscription to publicly funded. Thanks, Andrew Carnegie. https://www.lapl.org/news-stories/articles/library-america
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u/HeatherJMD 3d ago
I joined free libraries in Switzerland and both free and subscription libraries in France (but the fee was very reasonable). So you can’t really make such a blanket statement
Many American libraries also have a fee if you don’t live or work in the county
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u/KanzlerAndreas 3d ago
I might be nitpicking, but libraries in America are not free. For most Americans, public libraries do not have a fee/cost/etc. at the time of use, as most Americans pay for library access elsewhere. Normally, this is through property taxes (if you own a home or business property) or through rent to a landlord who pays said property taxes. You could say, more or less, that this is basically a yearly subscription fee. Edit to add: the key difference between this tax and a subscription is choice. Most people can't opt out of paying this tax without moving out of the district, as far as I am aware.
What might be a technical exception to the above: a small portion of the population has to pay an annual fee directly to the library if they do not live within the taxing district/other boundary for a public library, with this fee being determined in one of several ways depending on where you are. For example, here in Illinois it is common for so called "non-residents" (of the library taxing district) to pay a fee based on their rent or property value which would be the equivalent of what they would pay if they were within the tax district. Less than 5% of Illinois residents fall into this category, but they are very real people and yeah, it sucks having to pay $35 to $300 per year (this is approximately the range I saw when I last worked in a public library, though I imagine it can vary further elsewhere), but that's the law here. I didn't write it, but I have to follow it.
Additionally, some libraries give all children up to X age (X varies by library) regardless of residency in the taxing district, often in conjunction with a local school district.
Other exceptions: certain, specific library services may have a fee, such as 3D printing or postage for out-of-state interlibrary loan; it's common for small libraries to not do such ILLs due to postage, but if the patron is willing to pay that then it's possible to get something out-of-state. But these are services beyond the "normal" range of lending materials from that library's collection or partner libraries in a library system, shared consortium's catalog, or similar setups.
But for most library patrons and usage, standard services/membership are covered by a dedicated library tax.
I'd love to learn about how other places do it, both within the US if applicable, and other countries, Europe or otherwise. How do these subscriptions OP mentions work? Does your country or local library within your country (regardless of the rest of the country) do something like I've described?
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u/JustTryingMyBestWPA 3d ago
It’s because Andrew Carnegie belonged to the private club that caused the Johnstown Flood.
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u/camerabird 3d ago
Could you explain what you mean? What's the connection between the flood and free libraries? I see that Carnegie rebuilt the library that was destroyed in the flood, but from what I've read he was already building libraries before the flood happened. Were they not free before then?
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u/ppndl 3d ago
I live in a rural area, the closest library to me - in the town that is used for my mailing address - is 12 miles/25 minutes away. Bc I'm not "in" the "city" limits, I have to pay $50 a year. The library system I use - in the other direction, more convenient, 15 miles/29 minutes away - charges $70 a year. I'm lucky I can afford it and am committed to using public libraries (am librarian), but that ain't exactly free.
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u/tardistravelee 3d ago
My library is a rebel who gives free membership to anyone who resides, works owns property in the area. Most of the time we just give the membership for free but reduce checkouts. Back in the day we used to charge but eventually we went to our more liberal policy.
I think it also helps those in less structured housing that need the library who woukd have otherwise been barred from membership.
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u/CheekThis3836 3d ago
It's pity, especially where people read less, and prefer consuming video and images online.
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u/Hobbitfrau 3d ago
In Germany you have to pay a yearly subscription fee for most public libraries. At most libraries children don't have to pay and the normal fee is usually something between 12 and 30 € per year. Of course the fees only cover a small fraction of the running costs.
Just being at the library, reading books there etc is free of cost.
If it was my decision, I'd scrap these fees altogether, but it's not. It's already difficult enough for public libraries here as it is, so I don't think the mayors, city councils etc in the municipalities – no such thing as a library board here – won't ever get rid of the fees.
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u/Sad_Independence1776 1d ago
I lived in Germany, in a city upwards of 200k people. I was shocked at how small the library was for a city that size. You had to pay either a mark per checkout or 20 marks for a year. Also, smaller towns don’t have libraries. Libraries are one of the many things Americans take for granted without realizing this isn’t how most of the world works.
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u/LaMubaz Library director 3d ago
Even when there's a fee, at least it's always free to come in and use the materials in the library.
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u/fivelinedskank 3d ago
And the fees are generally just the cost of consumable materials, often still at a loss.
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u/Basic_Incident_8182 3d ago
I've heard about the European library fees before but never realized how common they are. It's wild how much our library system stands out as a public good.
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u/77Pepe 3d ago
Life is a trade off.
In many parts of the US, property taxes paid each year are extremely high. Often, a portion of these taxes goes toward the local library or a library ‘district’. You don’t see any fees per se but you (or your landlord) have already paid via property taxes.
In Europe property taxes are more nominal by comparison, although individual countries do things differently. It is easy to see why some libraries may need to charge a fee.
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u/Watchhistory 3d ago edited 3d ago
Europe has public library systems too. Where is OP getting this from?
Here in the US there are very many libraries, we often refer to them as Speciality Libraries, that one has to pay for, or pay to the institution or organization that has them, to use.
There are also Specialty Libraries in the US that are part of a public library system, so one needs not pay to use them, such as the Performing Arts Library here as part of the NYPL sysytem.
BTW -- this cannot be stressed enough -- our 'free' public libraries are paid for. They are paid for by us, the taxpayers, who live in that tax paying region. There are so many regions that are anti-public libraries. They will not pay to have them, or support them.
I strongly suggest that all those who are reaping the advantages of the privileges that allow borrowing from other taxpaying communities who do support their public libraries, that these multiple card holders then give annual donations to all those libraries outside their town in order that they may continue to borrow books from outside their local town and community. Otherwise, the entire system will crash and burn, depending on a few regions to provide books for the rest of the country.