Room rentals and interlibrary loans among affected programs
By: Courtney Gross
The Princeton Public Library Board of Trustees agreed on several policy changes Tuesday, including increasing several fees and tweaking its guidelines on unattended children in the building.
The decisions come as revenues this year are falling below what was expected.
Some of the increased revenue will come from room rentals. Starting Jan, 1, it will cost $50 to rent the community room for two hours and $25 to rent the conference room for two hours. Currently, those same rates apply to four hours of use.
The board will also reinstitute its replacement card fee next year, as well as charges for interlibrary loan requests. If a patron loses a library card, a $2 fee will be applied for a replacement. Each interlibrary loan request will cost $3 plus out-of-state postage, if necessary.
On average, library Director Leslie Burger said, the library’s absorbed cost is $25 per interlibrary request. This fee, she added, could help cover some of that cost and discourage library users from exploiting the service.
"At a minimum, the fee should cover the cost," board member Ryan Lilienthal said. "Let the community know there is a pinch here," he added.
Another fee increase would affect nonresidents who work in either the borough or the township. Nonresidents will pay an additional $10 next year for library cards, which are currently set at $30.
In addition to the fee increases, the board changed regulations for children visiting the library.
The policy currently allows a 6-year-old child to be alone in the library without parental supervision and those under the age of 6 to be accompanied by someone at least 13 years old. The change to the guidelines would require children over the age of 6 to know where their parents are and how to contact them.
"The library has no affirmative obligation to baby-sit," board member Grayson Barber said.
Following discussion, the board agreed it would soon review the guidelines to determine if the current age requirements are appropriate.
Also on Tuesday, while the board was reviewing the August financial report, Ms. Burger said the library’s revenues are not in tune with initial predictions total revenues for the year to date are down 9 percent, she said.
According to the August financial report, all but four categories of revenue including nonresident memberships, loss material charges, rental fee-user charges and computer printer fees are below what was expected.
"We’re bringing in less revenues than I optimistically anticipated," Ms. Burger said.
Next year, the director added, the board will have to be more realistic when preparing the budget.

