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Originally Posted by issybird
So at $45, quite a bit more than just a few dollars per capita
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You are correct. I was looking at state subsidies above municipal funding levels. So I'd bet that these fees are indeed in line with the average tax contributions in general.
Even so...
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[...]but they have no choice in terms of subsidy. So it seems virtually certain to me that someone who opts in at the same price is someone who’s going to be a heavier user.
I don’t know that “unfair” is the accurate term to use in these situations; the library sets a fee and people pay it.
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Right. I think calling it unfair implies "Pay library tax! But don't actually use the library services much, or that would be unfair!"
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However, I think in a lot of cases the library doesn’t understand its costs and how they relate to this particular revenue stream, and that’s why libraries such as FLP and now Brooklyn have cut off non-residents; they finally crunched the numbers.
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That would be sensible, and obvious, but then again, we're taking about municipal politics and bureaucracy here, so "sensible" isn't always a given. If it was just a matter of balancing the books, they could just raise the price of the out of state card to a rate that works. If that rate is too high, then people won't pay it, and the end result is the same as cancelling the program. But better.
So I suspect the reasons to cancel the out of state programs are a little less obvious. Perhaps because of some law or regulation, some other source of funding is in jeopardy if they bring in too much money from certain channels, or have the wrong ratio of local/distant users. Who knows.
ApK