New Jersey Library Charges Internet-Use Fee
Patrons are still fuming nearly two months after the Bloomfield (N.J.) Public Library began charging patrons $1 per hour to use public Internet workstations. “To someone who makes a lot, [a dollar] may not be much,” patron Gus Rodulfo said in the April 1 Newark Star-Ledger. “On my part, it is an additional cost.”
“It’s a public library and is supposed to help the public,” agreed Nelly Polanco, who told the Star-Ledger that she has paid the fee. “If I had $1 to pay every day to be here, I’d have a system at home.”
Instituted February 9, the fee policy exempts college students and users younger than 20. The cash-strapped library has collected $1,035 as of the end of March toward covering $12,000 in annual Internet costs. In response to the news, Judith F. Krug, executive director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, urged trustees in a February 24 letter to reconsider, contending that “those hurt most by public library fees are persons with low or no income, who cannot buy books, rent videos, or proffer a credit card for Internet access.” She went on to emphasize that despite ALA’s belief in local decision-making, “fundamental principles of public librarianship should not be compromised [including] free, open, and equal access to information resources.”
Board President Dennis Valentovic responded in the Star-Ledger, “Is a dollar an hour really going to prevent someone from using [the Internet] if they really want to?” He admitted, however, that online usage is down 35% compared to last year.
“I am not critical of them trying to find ways to serve people,” New Jersey Library Association Director Patricia Tumulty told the newspaper, adding, “A dollar doesn’t seem like a lot, but it can limit people.”
Posted April 2, 2004.
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