Free Online Use of Library Files Proposed
The public will be able to access county library databases from home or work for free under a proposal the Board of Supervisors will consider next week.
The county now charges 50 cents per minute for those who log onto the databases, which provide thousands of newspaper articles, telephone directories, reading lists and other materials to users.
County Librarian John M. Adams said the fee was imposed in the wake of the county’s 1994 bankruptcy, when the library system was in desperate need of additional revenue. The fee generated about $2,000 last year.
“We established the fee at our darkest hour with the hope that we would eventually rescind it,” Adams said.
“We believe more people will use this service when there isn’t a charge for it.”
Adams noted that most libraries offer dial-in database searches for free.
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