Library fees rise to boost revenue
Library and archive service fees are set to rise in Dudley in a bid to generate an extra £4,000 over the coming financial year.
Library and archive service fees are set to rise in Dudley in a bid to generate an extra £4,000 over the coming financial year.
Some of the biggest increases will be felt by community groups who want to hire rooms at the libraries for events and meetings.
And anyone wishing to reserve books from the inter-library loans service will see the price double from £1.50 to £3 per item.
It follows on from a similar rise in the fees last year when the authority introduced a £30 charge for talks by historians for the first time.
The latest charges, which come in to force on October 5, will increase this fee, charged to groups who book a talk by a local historian, to £31. Up until last year, groups were asked only to make a donation. Slight increases will be introduced on overdue books - rising from 12p per day to 15p per day. The cost of hiring the Caslon Room or the Shenstone Theatre at Halesowen Library will increase by £1 per hour for community groups and by slightly more for commercial users.
The rates charged to businesses for advertising in display cabinets at libraries will also increase by an average of 50p per week.
Adult learners are also expected to feel the pinch with course registration fees rising from £2 to £3 although the hourly £2 tuition rate will remain the same. DVD, video and CD hire prices have also been frozen.
A report drawn up by Dudley Council states that the increases, approved by councillor David Simms, cabinet member for housing libraries and adult learning, will bring the fees in line with what is charged by the neighbouring Black Country authorities of Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton.
It reads: "A number of the charges have been increased to bring them in line with our neighbouring Black Country library authorities, while others have been increased in order to pass on increased costs."
Residents can still reserve library books, CDs and DVDs free of charge after a reservation charge was scrapped by Dudley Council in 2004. In recent months, Dudley Council has increased fees on a number of services it provides including social care costs, which have risen by an average of two per cent compared to last year.
In June, home owners in Dudley were hit by increases of more than 1,000 per cent in the fees being charged by the council to manage their properties.
Management fees charged to residents who bought their home from Dudley Council – but do not own the freehold – have increased from just £5.40 per year to around £100.
The increase came after Dudley Council decided to scrap the fixed rate fee and introduce a calculated one instead.
