I would like to provide some background information on why the University Library began charging for printing. I hope this will explain our decision to charge and why we selected the price we did.

When the General Information Center was created, there was little that users could print other than online catalog records and abstracts from periodical databases. At that time, the cost of providing free copies was small, and we decided not to charge. In fact, given the modest amount of printing that was being done, even if we had wanted to charge, it would not have been cost effective to install the necessary software, card readers, etc.

Since that time, there has been an explosion of full-text information available on our workstations. The library now subscribes to many services that provide electronic full texts of current and retrospective journal articles. At the same time, the amount of free information available on the Internet has increased dramatically.

Given the explosion of full-text information, computer printing has changed from being a convenience that saves users from having to write down citations and call numbers to being an alternative to photocopying. As a result, the volume of printing has grown exponentially as have the costs the library has had to absorb. If one projects that growth in printing into the future, this cost will soon become a major problem.

Another concern about free printing was the waste of paper and toner cartridges. With no incentive to conserve, large jobs were printed and never picked up, and large files were printed with just a few pages taken.

Given these factors, we decided that some type of control was needed. We looked at a number of options, including allocating a certain number of free pages per quarter. We were told that, while an allocation system certainly is feasible, we could not have it in place by Fall Quarter. Also, people who had implemented such systems elsewhere recommended against it, in part because there quickly develops a secondary market in printing allocations, with users selling portions of their allocations to others.

We decided, because of technical problems and policy concerns, that we would not provide a free allocation of copies, but rather would set the price-per-copy very low — 5 cents a page for single-side pages and 8 cents for two pages printed front and back. This means that a five-page article costs 21 cents. That same five-page article copied on a library photocopier would cost 36 cents with a WildCARD or 50 cents with cash. Also, there remains the option of copying articles onto a floppy disk or emailing them to oneself at no cost. The price we chose does not begin to cover our costs. It does, though, provide the library with some financial relief, both in added revenue and in reducing the printing supplies we use.

We are sensitive to the fact that Northwestern students pay high tuition. They do not want to pay fees in addition to tuition, and they view charging for printing as a fee. However, we believe the system we have implemented is a fair one. It is a subsidized, low-cost service that will lessen the waste of printing supplies and will reduce the negative impact that growing printing costs have had on other library services.