University Library Committee 2001-2002

Oregon Card/Free Borrowing Privileges

Task force charge:

Investigate free borrowing privileges for the general public. Consider financial, practical, political costs/benefits. Identify affected groups on campus and within the broader community.

Task force recommendation:

Establish a new category of service called "the Oregon Card" which is available to Oregon residents 18 years or older, free of charge. Borrows are eligible for two-week checkouts with one renewal.

Primary Benefits:

Establishes the UO Library as the research library for the State of Oregon.

Creates excellent public relations by increasing outreach to the community.

Creates a new constituent base of potential library supporters.

Provides public service for the Oregon community in line with recent discussion in the Faculty Senate. (See: Faculty senate goals concerning "community participation": section "IV. The Meaning of "Public" for Public Institutions").

Reduces staffing costs. (Staff currently spent 10 to 20 hours per month managing multiple groups of eligible borrowers).

Concerns/Potential Costs:

Eliminates current incentives offered by the Alumni Association, i.e. library privileges for membership.

Increased "competition" for high-use resources.

Loss of revenue from card sales, approximately $18,000 per year.

Greater potential for lost and overdue items.

Response to concerns:

The Alumni Association would continue to offer its current program, which provides more privileges to members compared to the Oregon Card.

Only 1.5% of those currently eligible for free privileges actually register. The library currently has 700 registered public borrowers (including 415 paying borrowers). Those borrowers account for only 4% of the lending activity.

The Oregon Card will carry new limitations, e.g., up to 20 items checked at one time, 5 items from selected locations, ILL charges, penalties for overdues, immediate blocks on delinquent borrowers.

Public borrowers have a lower rate of fines and lost materials than the UO community.

Normal fine rates will help to offset the loss of sales revenue, e.g., if the number of checkouts double, it will generate an additional $4200 in fines. Savings in staff costs could average another $2,000/year.

[ulc/oregoncard.doc]

Maintained by: Sheila Gray, skgray@uoregon.edu
Last Modified: 01/24/2007