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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1979-06-19; City Council; 5893; Library Feest:xTX Or CART: A!1,- AGnNDA BILL N0. inkti , i ; 'DATE: June 19, .1979 Dept.ITd. DEPARTMENT: City Manager C. Atty•VA6 ' C. Mgr- Sabject: ' LIBRARY FEES Statement of the I-Ic tter The City Council has directed staff to conduct departmental reviews of City fees. The attached memorandum outlines recommendations for the Library based on discussions with the City Librarian. Library fines and book re- servation charges were raised when the library went on-line with the C7;SI o computer in conjunction with Oceanside :in February, 1979. The Council has mentioned the possibility of considering charging Library use fees: This is a controversial and complicated issue and it is suggested that if Council desires to pursue this that the matter be referred to the w City Attorney for - further analysis. Currently, ' ,(a charter city) charges a fee for library usoInythe eattachof San ed report Staff has recommended that this t t ype of charge not be considered. A summary of the staff recommendations is presented at the end of the attach-ed memorandum. The only changes that staff recommends at this time are to add a $3 service charge to the costs of lost and damaged materials. Exhibits _ Memorandum to the City Manager dated June 1, 1979 Resolution No SS31 authorizing the Library to apply for support and assistance under the California Library Services Act. Regulations Govering the Use of Library Conference Application for Use of Conference Room Memorandum to the City Manager dated May 23, 1979 concerning out of town library use. Recommendation If Council concurs, approve the recommendations outline in the attached staff report and direct staff to prepare the necessary documents. Council Action 6-19-79: Council directed that the City Attorney prepare a report addressing the legalities of charging fees for library use. Council approved the recommendations outlined he staff report, dated June 1, 1979, and directed that the tnecessary documents be prepared. M E M O R A N D U M TO : City Manager FROM : Administrative Assistant, Parks and Recreation Department DATE : June 1, 1979 SUBJECT: LIBRARY FEES The Preliminary Fee Discussion Paper was presented to the City Council in February, 1979 and outlined the current fees and some potential new fees. A discussion of each of these items is pre- sented below: CURRENT FEES Library Fines - On February 20, 1979 the Library raised the late charge from 5� per day per item to 10� per day per item. This was done in conjunc- tion with the City of Oceanside when the City went on-line with the CLSI computer that is shared between the two cities. No further y change is recommended for library fines. Xerox Copies , The Library has a coin -operated machine that operates at a rofit at 10¢ per copy. The machinA costs 6200 per year to lease and pro- vides an income of approximately $7000. Since no staff time is required to operate the machine no change is recommended Lost Materials - Currently, the Library charges for the cost of replacing any material lost by a patron. The City Librarian recommends that an additional charge be added on to this cost to help defray the administrative costs oi: processing (order- ing a new book, cataloging, etc.). It is recommended by the City Librarian that, for any lost materials that a charge be set at cost of replacement plus $3. Damaged Materials - Currently, the Library charges for the cost i of repairing or replacing damaged materials* The City Librarian recommends that a service # charge of $3 per item be added to the cost of repairing or replacing damaged materials. - 2 - Book Reservation - When the City went on-line with the CLSI computer in conjunction with the City of Oceanside the charge for reserving a book was raised from 10� per book to 25�. No further change is recommended for book reservation charges. POTENTIAL NEW FEES Room Use - Various groups such as the Garden Club, Business ' Women and Toastmasters use library facilities for meetings during and after normal work hours. No r, special preparation by Library staff is provided and organizations must return the premises to the same order and cleanliness as it was found. The meeting room is provided free of charge to groups sponsoring meetings of general interest. Attached is a "Regulations Governing the Use of Library Conference Room" and an Application for Use of Conference Room. Regulation number six states that meetings are to be open and free to the public and that no collection of money may be taken, The City Librarian believes that a room use charge would limit use by senior citizens and some low income citizens. She recommends that the City not charge " for the use of the Library conference room, Audio Visual Use - The audio-visual section has available films, records, tapes, projectors, cassette players, an overhead projector, a record player and screens, Projectors and all audio-visual equipment is checked out only to Carlsbad residents on a no charge basis. Much of the audio-visual equipment has been donated by the Friends of the Library, citizens or has been salvaged from other organizations. For this reason the City Librarian does not recommend charging for the use of audio visual equipment, The section also has films, records and tapes available. Over 2000 films are available through the SERRA system which cannot be charged for according to the cooperative agreement. The City has approximately 200 of its own films. The City Librarian believes that to charge for a small proportion of the available films would not be administratively practical and would limit the use of these films, 11 - 3 - Audio Visual Use - The records and tapes section was orginally started by a $1000 donation by the Newcomers Club and is partially supported by the Friends of the Library. The City Librarian feels strongly that no charge should be established for records, tapes or films. LIBRARY USE The issue of charging either residents or non-residents or both for the use of the Library is a controversial and somewhat complicated issue both in terms of current legislation and in terms of the fund, t; ing and services that may be lost if a user fee is instituted. Re- cently, Assembly Bill 1456 was introduced by Assemblyman Chappie which would authorize libraries to establish :reasonable user fees or ` charges for library services. According to the League of California Cities the bill was not referred for recommendation by the Committee on Local Government and therefore died at the committee level. On November 21, 1973 the Attorney General issued an opinion at the request of the State Librarian addressing the question of whether fees may be charged to local residents for use of the services and benefits under the Education Code and the Government Code, A signi- ficant finding in the opinion is ",..we conclude that the detailed provisions of the Education Code prevails over the general provisions of the Government Code..." and ",..Government Code section 39732 can- not be viewed as an independent alternative source of library -estab- lishing authority for cities but must be viewed merely as a collateral confirmation of the grant of authority more fully delineated in the Education Code," In other words, the cities come under the provisions of the Government Code and the Education Code. Another significant part of the analysis is— Me Legislature has abundantly indicated, both by general declarations and specific provisions, its intent that public libraries are to be free.' Another complicating issue is the fact that our library is part of the SERRA system which is a cooperative library system which includes Carlsbad, Chula Vista, Coronado, Escondido, National City, Oceanside, San Diego, and San Diego County libraries, This is financed by grants from the State of California under the Public Library Services Act of 1963 which encourages the development of free public libraries. According to representatives of the SERRA administrative offices a city cannot charge fees for library use and still retain membership in the system, The system provides several services including an exten- sive inter -library loan service, access to over 2000 films, daily truck delivery which ties all the libraries in the county including the colleges, TWX service, a research center in San Diego, payment of - 4 - mileage to meetings and reimbursement for all items checked out to non-Carlsad residents at 40� per item and reimbursement at $2.26 for inter -library loans under the California Librar- Services Act (CLSA). Council authorized the Library to apply for these funds by Resolution 5531 dated September 5, 1978. This last items is signi- ficant as the Council has expressed concern over the use of the library by non-residents. In effect, the City is being subsidized by the State for library use by non-resident taxpayers. A break- down of funds received for the 1978-79 year is given below: 1st quarter - $ 7,217.60 a 2nd quarter - 3,752.00 i 3rd quarter - 7,862.40 4th quarter - 4,867.20 ' 4! i Z3, O99.20 These funds and the services provided by SERRA would be lost to the City if a charge for library use is established. In the Report of the Proposition 13 Implementation Advisory Committee presented to Council on July 18, 1978 the committee considered SERRA system parti- cipation as the top priority for the library. The City Librarian feels strongly that no charge be considered for library use for residents or non-residents. It is suggested that if Council wishes to pursue this issue that the question of legality be referred to the City Attorney's office and that further analysis be conducted, Currently, only the City of San Leandro, a charter city, ha-s a charge for basic services. Staff recommends that considering the questions of legality and loss of services and funds through the SERRA system and the California Library Services Act that Council not consider charging fees for library use, SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS Current } Recommended Library Fines (per day, per item) 10� * Same Xerox Copies 10� Same � Lost Materials Cost of replace-- 4 $3 plus the cost ment of replacement s Damaged Materials Cost of repair $3 plus the cost or replacement of repair or replacement Book Reservation 25� * Same Room Use None None Audio Visual Use None None Library Use None None *These were raised on February 20, 1979 ML:swf M r RESOLUTION NO.'"'S53i A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARLSBAD, CALIFORNI'A- AUTHORIZING THE CARLSBAD CITY LIBRARY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CALIFORNIA LIBRARY SERVICES ACT. 5 WHEREAS, the City of Carlsbad maintains the Carlsbad City S Library for the purposes of meeting informational, educational and 7 recreational needs of its residents; and 8 WHEREAS, the City of Carlsbad is desirous of improving those 9 services while deriving the greatest possible benefits of the use 10 of public -funds by: 11 1. Providing to its residents access to the materials and 12 services of other libraries in the state through resource 13 sharing; 14 2. Obtaining the maximum state and federal funding in 15 support of such sharing; and 16, 3. Augmenting services to those segments of the cownunity 17 not presents ser-zd- d 18 19 20 21 2211 2311 24 25,1 5 S 26 I 27 28 .1 , an WHEREAS, the California Library Services Board has funds available under the California Library Services Act (Education Code Title 1, Division 1, Part 11, Chapter 4) to assist and support the sharing of library material-6 and services by California's libraries; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of -the City of Carlsbad, California, as follows: 1. That the above recitations are true and correct. 2. That the Carlsbad City Library is authorized to partici- pate in the programs of the California Library Services Act. -1- V� 1 3•.' That the Librafiy Director be'authorized to represent the 2 City 09 Carlsbad on. the Serra Cooperative Library Board, 3 which Board will annually apply a 1 for and accept funds 4 undex this California Library Services Act. 5 PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City 6 of Carlsbad at a regular meeting held .the 5th` day of September , 7 1978, by the following vote, to wit: 8 AYES: Councilmen Packard, Anear, Lewis and Councilwoman 9 Casl er NOES: Councilman Skotnicki 10 ABSENT: Norte { 12 ATTEST: Z�UDC. PACKARD, Mayor 13 City L. Ck 15 (SEAL) • 16 17 18 l9 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 CARLSBAD CITY LIBRARY I`� ! REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE USE OF LIBRARY CONFERENCE ROOM APPLICANT AGREES: 1. To hold the City of Carlsbad, the Board of Library Trustees, librarian and staff at all times free and harmless from and indemnify against any and all claims, demands or judgments that may arise out of, in connection with, or be the result of any injury sustained or suffered by any person or persons while attending the above meeting, or while on the premises of said library building or grounds. f, 2. To be responsible for and to pay for any and all damage to library property in- cluding walls, floors, grounds and furniture white room is being used by applicant *or applicant's agents or employees. To return room to.order and cleanliness as it was found. 3. Applicant understands' that the room may be used free of chargelby groups sponsoring meetings of general interest. 4. Applicant understands neither the name nor address of the Carlsbad City Library may be used as official address or headquarters of the organization. 5. Applicant further agrees and understands that library functions have scheduling priority. Therefore, Wednesday evenings will be reserved for such programs. Con- ference room will not be available on Friday evening, Saturday or Sunday. S. Applicant agrees that all meetings are to be open and free to the public, .and no collection of money may be taken. Literature may not be distributed wi�hout approval of Library Board. 7., Applicant agrees to serve only light refreshments. Dishes, silver, and storage ' facilities are not available-. - .. 8. Applicant understands that fire regulation's' require no smoking, and a maximum capacity, of 75 people per meeting. ' 9. Applicant further understands that all members of the organization and the audience must have left the building by 10:00 P.M. 10. The Board of Trustees has the final decision on the use of the Conference Room and reserves the right to change its policies at any time without prior notice. 11. Applicant agrees that when students and pre-school children are in Conference Room, there will be a minimum of one adult in attendance per every twenty children. 12. Applicant must take care of physical arrangements during a meeting. Should additional chairs _o_r_equipment be needed, the re_sponsibil_ity_rests_}_vith applicant._ 3 13. Organizations or groups using the Conference Room on a year-round basis will be i required to sign a new agreement form each year on or about,Juiy 1. Organization' { Date Representative I CARLSBAD CITY LIBRARY i • Carlsbad, California APPLICATION FOR USE OF CONFERENCE ROOM Date of application Name of organization Purpose of function p f t Address of organization Telephone number i Name of individual filing Office in organization application Address Telephone number i Fill in below if reservation is for a single meeting: Approximate size of Topic Speaker ; group Date Hour Refreshments Fill in below if reservation is for a series of meetings: T+ Approximate size of group ' y Dates (list each below) Hour TOpjc Speaker Refreshments Room available Date Librarian A r I ,A May 23, 1979 MEMORANDUM T0: City Manager FROM: Library Director SUBJECT: Out of town library use In response to your memorandum dated May 18, 1979 regarding the use of the library by noncity taxpayers: we have contacted the Oceanside Library to deter- mine what was involved in obtaining the data from the computer. At this paint the patron information can only be extracted by running a hard co registered with th'e Carlsbad Library, then physically scanningpy of all patrons on by Patron to check residency. We are advised that following "Release 25"pwerwill be able to obtain the desired information on residency of card holders we going through this lengthy and costly process. (Release 23 has just been installed, and we have no time frame for Release 25 and its installation.) Patrons using the Carlsbad Library who reside in Oceanside are not registered as "Carlsbad borrowers" since this additional entry in the data base would ..rapidly overload the capacity of the computer with the redundant information. The statistics we do have on out of town use are for total numbers of items checked out during the survey periods for the CLSA reimbursement. A survey is.taken during a two -week periqd once a that quarter of 400 per item (less Carlsbad-Istuseaof othernd the libraries) reimbursement isobas' this net usage figure. ed on FollocYing are the statistics referred to above: Stirvey Period ,Number of Items Circulated Amount of Reimbursement to Non-resident Borrowers lst quarter 8/21-9/3/78 Received or Pendin 2nd quarter 12/4-i2/17/78 1#904 (received) $7,217.60 .3rd quarter 1/29-2/11/79 3,649 (received) $'3,752.00 .4th quarter 4/16:-4/29/79 2,614 (pending) $7,862.40 unknown Concerning information which specifically pertains to users in the southern area of the city, we are attaching copies of statistics supplied to Frank Lilley for use in the study he was commissioned to do on City revenues and expenditures by the La Costa Land Company. hems checked out by both adExhibit 1 is bookmobile statistics showing number of ult and juvenile borrowers in the three are,ar, where service has been attempted or is presently being provided. Exhibit 2 shows the numbers of patrons, both adults and children, who entered the library during the period April 24 through April 29, 1978, when a pin map survey was in progress. By use of the SCAT (statistical category) field in the computer's monthly statis- tics, we -are able to ascertain the numbers of items circulated to reside in specific areas in Carlsbad. This information is presentlytrons avail.who ble City Manager Page Two May 23, 1979 on adult in-house circulation and the bookmobile only (the children's circulation •.is scheduled to go on-line June 1). During the month of April, the adult and. t bookmobile circulation total was 17,564. Patrons residing in Carlsbad who live i south of Palomar Airport Rd., west of E1 Camino Real checked out 1,834 items, or 10.4% of this total. Patrons who reside in Carlsbad south of Palomar Airport Rd., ' east of E1 Camino Real checked out 1,162 items, or 6.6% of the total. Porgi�na.e Library Director 3 i Enclosure " GDC/7a , a 1 t . i • ' 1 • r EXHIBIT 1 CARLSBAD CITY LIBRARY . BOOKMOBILE USAGE - SOUTHEAST AREA • CENTRAL SHOPPING CENTER ADULT JUVENILE' TOTAL 1976 July 3 August 2 3 September 1 2 •• October 0 1 0 ' L"EVANTE PARK 1977 November 16 December SO 26 42 1978 January 26 74 124 i February 36 56 March 61 62 68 ' April 82 91 152 A** May, 93 229 311 ' June 100 200 293 t July 109 182 282 August 75 215 324 September 86 286 361 October 88 322 408 ' November 54 311 399 December S2 229 283 1979 January •54 186 238 i February 97 198 252 i March 52 150 247 t 245 297 ' PONDEROSA 1978 November .59 December 66 142 201 1979 January' 61 190 256 February 140 181 242 March 70 241 381 390 460 Beginning March 1978, Saturday --prior to the Bookmobile that served the area every Saturday. time it was scheduled every -other • • '°"°` EXHIBIT 2 CARLSBAD CITY LIBRARY PIN MAP SURY=Y, SOUTHEAST AREA Adults Children •MONDAY, 4/24/78 18 0 TUESDAY, 4/25/78 13 5 F WEDNESDAY, 4/26/78 24 14 • THURSDAY, 4/27/78 24 11 ? FRIDAY, 4/28/78 9 4 SATURDAY, 4/29/78 7 0 • 1 1 • r i