US:PA-4: Rural Library Discounts
Rural Library Discounts
Cliff Farides (cfarides@jvbrown.edu)
Thu, 9 Oct 1997 11:41:53 -0400
Good Morning,
I am reading a fine profile from the Center for Rural Pennsylvania on rural
libraries...and I appreciate CRP has always been paying attention to rural
libraries, but I am a little concerned about one conclusion in the report
regarding the e-rate.
The figure was raised that the average rural library will receive an annual
discount of approximately $4,000. I was just discussing the erate with the
librarian for the Sullivan County (definitely a rural county). She tells me
that her phone bill runs about 70 dollars a month and her internet is about
15 dollars a month. Her annual bill before a discount is barely over a
thousand dollars.
I would love to have any of the libraries in my district pay 4,000 dollars a
year in phone bills, let alone get a discount of 4,000.
Please don't misunderstand me here, I am not taking shots at CRP, I am
putting this discrepancy out to the group because my earlier statements
about the effort not being worth the savings would seem awful cranky if the
4K number was something I saw out here in the field. I would even go on to
say that that excluding the Brown Library from the mix, my other 44
libraries would be paying numbers closer to Sullivan County's expenses. I
have to deal with the grim reality of inadequate funding eight days a week
and I know the numbers for my district.
Perhaps, some of the local rural librarians in this group can share their
budget numbers for telecom expenses, just for comparison. Having a good
baseline of numbers would aid the discussion.
Thanks,
Cliff
PS-I really do appreciate the Center for Rural Pennsylvania's efforts. I am
just wondering about one number that is very applicable to our discussion.
So please don't 'flame' me on this issue.
Cliff Farides
District Consultant
North Central Library District
Home Email: cjf@technologist.com
Phone: 717-326-0536
Fax: 717-323-6938