Wisconsin Assembly Repeals
Ban on Library Fees
The Wisconsin Assembly passed March 15 a FY 2001–03 budget-adjustment bill that includes the repeal of a 130-year-old statute guaranteeing no-fee library services for service-area patrons. “Our representatives have truly lost touch with reality if they think that they can balance the state budget problems on the backs of Wisconsin citizens who use free public libraries,” Wisconsin Library Association President Stephen Proces declared in a March 15 WLA statement.
The measure, which is intended to help plug a $1.1-billion deficit in Wisconsin’s biennial budget, does not require that public libraries impose fees, but specifies that the decision is “subject to reasonable regulations prescribed by the library’s board.”
“I am just astounded,” Pewaukee Public Library patron Terry Conley said in the March 19 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, speculating that a repeal would give local officials carte blanche to charge for everything from book loans to story hours. “I don’t see it getting to a fee-at-the-door or fee-per-book,” Rep. Phil Montgomery (R-Ashwaubenon) declared to the Associated Press March 19, defending the proposal as “allowing [libraries] to recover some costs in specialized areas.”
Calling the proposal a “triple whammy” because of revenue-sharing and state-aid cuts already under consideration, WLA Legislative Committee Chair Paul Nelson told American Libraries, “If we can’t get public support from this issue, then maybe we should shut down.”
Posted March 25, 2002.
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