Library Use Controversy

I'm not sure if everyone has heard, but starting in November, the Champaign Public Library will no longer allow people with Mahomet or Tolono library cards to borrow any of Champaign's items. People with Mahomet or Tolono cards will have to go to the Champaign library and purchase a special $200 card if they wish to borrow items from Champaign, either in person or through the Lincoln Trail delivery system.

The Champaign library has created a news post about this, which can be viewed here. The reason for the policy change, they say, is "[it] will help us preserve access to library materials for our taxpayers, while allowing Tolono and Mahomet card holders the option to use our library if they help to fund it." The reasoning for focusing exclusively on Mahomet and Tolono is "[w]e focused on the communities that are the heaviest users of our library, compared to their home libraries.... Last fiscal year, for every 10 items Mahomet card holders borrowed from their home library, they borrowed close to 8 at Champaign (86,050 Champaign items). For every 10 items Tolono card holders borrowed at home, they borrowed 17 from us (167,259 Champaign items)."

There are some great articles available to read at the News-Gazette website about this. You can see the first article here, with follow-up articles here, here, and here. I found it especially interesting to read the comments that readers posted after each article.

In the last article, it says that the director of the Illinois State Library has asked the Champaign library to "'rescind this policy immediately'" and that it violates the state mandate "'to encourage the improvement of free public libraries and to encourage cooperation among all types of libraries in promoting the sharing of library resources.'"

What does everyone think about this policy change? You can comment here, or create an account at the News-Gazette site and comment there.