To think 20p a black and white printout is too dear

[Pistachiocray]

This is in my local library. Surely it can't cost them more than a fraction of this?

The people using the library are the ones that could least afford it.

It's probably also 'collateral' damage. Those people who say 'oh I forgot my money' or 'oh I didn't mean to print out so many sheets, can I just take the one I want?' Or ' oh I didn't mean to press colour I just want black and white...'.

Library printers use toner not ink. It's 10p b&w in our library, 50p colour, internet use is free.

A library will be paying for broadband and their own WiFi will be filtered.

Dissing the library is Not Cool.

Ours has free job clubs and cv help, free computer buddies, free digital courses, CAB drop in, FREE bounce and rhyme sessions and story times for parents who.just.need.to.get.out.of.the.house.and.have.some.company.

you aren't charged if you are printing out council docs like hmrc, benefits claims etc.

It is the most egalitarian, non-judgmental, accessible-to-all space in the community. If it wants to charge 20p for a printout, then fair play.

Why is it 'not fair' to factor in staff time? Do you think it is acceptable to commandeer their time for however long you want to deal with your affairs, just because most of the services are free at the point of delivery?

Don't you think it is ok to charge for staff time where they can, in order to try and ensure the library service survives the many budget cuts that have been happening over the last few years?

How odd that you don't think staff time and other general business costs such as wifi and Internet access, need to factored in to the cost. Why not? How do you think the coffee chains calculate the cost of your coffee? They don't just charge you for the cup, the coffee beans and the milk. All business costs down to the heating and air conditioning costs will be factored in.

Libraries have outgoings the same as every other public building. Councils subsidise library services to varying degrees but they will cut funding to libraries in a flash when budget setting comes round as they are deemed a non-essential service. Areas of service which can be charged for like print outs, fines and hall hire are charged for to protect the future of the service. If you care so much about the users who are little able to afford the print outs then you would support the service so that there is a small hope that it will continue for the next few years. In 10 years libraries will be gone anyway as they are not supported by their local communities.

Well we will have to agree to disagree about factoring in the fixed costs. It isn't an internet cafe, its publically funded so those costs are already paid.

I need to claim council tax benefit, so have to print out the entire housing benefit form, this is 28 pages so costs £5.60 to print. This is too expensive, so instead I've had to use the free phone to call the council , speak to them for 10 mins and they are now posting out a form. If I could of just printed it out for a reasonable price would of saved a lot of time.

My thread has proved I'm not being unreasonable as most people are getting printouts for half the price and less.

The library have shot themselves in the foot as I know it will be cheaper for me to buy a deal on an economical printer and save money I'n the long run. Therefore I'm less likely to use the library services and more chance they will close down.

Certainly a cup of tea in a local café is much more than the price of a tea bag.

Just look up on it as your support for a local, much needed, amenity, plus it cuts down on unnecessary printing.

Not sure what my local library charges, but bearing in mind how much I pay for ink and the space the printer takes up on the desk, I might consider just sending the DC to the local library to print out their homework.

DD pays .75p per sheet at uni, but given she HAS to print a fair amount of stuff and she's paying £9,000 a year for the pleasure of reading it, that's a fair rate.

And I'm not dissing the library, I'm saying one of the services is too expensive. Or are library's the same as the NHS? And completely above any critique whatsoever?

OP, you seem quite happy that a library might close down.

Did you check you had to pay that? I mean did you ask them? Council forms should be free.

Government funding for council services has been drastically cut. The council will try to keep services running but they need to reflect costs in less essential areas. The printer is probably leased at a fixed cost with a charge from the leasing company per page.

Yes I asked and I had to pay.

I also had to print out supporting documentation taking it close to 8 quid.

Its ridiculous I couldn't apply online and attach images to support it.

Buy your own printer cheap then. If it was a laser or a multifunction unit, it would cost a lot more than 2p a page.

its still cheaper than a £20 printer plus paper and ink.

Its a shame as you are right, it hits the people who can least afford it. I pay less than 2p a print including paper at home, but libraries have to look for ways to earn money to stay open.
Considering most laser printers just use photocopy toner which is as cheap as chips they are making some money on that.

No, It sounds fine tbh. It was 10p a sheet when I worked in a library a decade ago.

We charged 10p per bw sheet 16 years ago when I first started in libraries.
We charge 10p per bw sheet now.
People printing CVs get 10 pages free every day in order to help them search for jobs.

How much CT benefit will you get? Is it more than 5.60 worth? Would you not consider it money well spent in order to make that saving? And as you said, they are sending you a form which means it hasn't cost you anything other than 10 minutes of your time.

I asked for a copy of my medical report [full blood tests] from my NHS GP and was charged £8 for a single sheet of A4 B&W. The arsy cow doctor pressed print during my apt and the receptionist picked it up off the printer beside me and was flabbergasted when I said I had been told I would be charged for it.

Your library sounds like a bargain.

I doubt very much they are making a profit, just have an old and shit leasing agreement which no-one is empowered to renegotiate.

I'm baffled as to why wifi [to the internet presumably?] is free all day but internet access is charged and limited to a set time???
Or is wifi access usually only to the library network and electronic resources or something?

Wifi is unlimited - in theory - because people are using their own devices. Internet time is limited because we only have 6 computers when they are all working that is and if we didn't limit time some people would be on them all day long. We limit use to two hours but will extend time as long as nobody else is waiting after that.

printer maintenance contracts are expensive as well...
20p is a good price

Its a shame as you are right, it hits the people who can least afford it. I pay less than 2p a print including paper at home, but libraries have to look for ways to earn money to stay open.
Considering most laser printers just use photocopy toner which is as cheap as chips they are making some money on that.

Thanks that's exactly it. I wouldn't mind if it was a small bit above what it costs a business, but this is ridiculous. Either they have signed an awful contract or they are trying to make money out of it.

Just bought a new printer either way. Its like when restaurant s struggle so they raise the price of food, only to put off more customers.

Another AIBU where the poster has already decided she isn't and no subsequent posts are going to change her mind.

Perhaps we need a forum entitled IKINBUANAOYSIGTMAD

"It's publicly funded"

And the funding is being cut. So they are being forced by the Tory government to take costs from the users direct.

They're running it as they would a business.

That's the result of austerity.

Spot on Believeitornot

As the daily income from printing in the libraries I work in (small local libraries) is under a tenner, I don't think the printing works in anyway like a business.

Well no they are running it worse than a business. Internet cafes I've used charge less per printout.

They are running it like a bad business, and they've lost my business.