VERNAL, Utah—Uintah County is considering charging nonresidents $30 to use its library beginning in 2010.
Library Director Sam Passey says the library has nearly 23,000 cardholders, and about 2,200 of those are people who live outside the county, including about 60 people in Moffat and Rio Blanco counties in Colorado.
Duchesne County represents the largest number of users outside the county with about 1,900.
Charging nonresidents for library use isn’t uncommon.
Salt Lake County charges $80, Park City charges $40, and Washington County charges $25 to issue nonresidents library cards.
Passey said nonresidents need to help pay to maintain the facilities and services they use.
State Librarian Donna Jones Morris said libraries across the state are noticing an increase in usage as the economy worsens. She said more people are using the library for Internet access because some people can’t afford it at home.
In rural Uintah County, more than 75 percent of the population has a library card.
Passey said in the library’s effort to encourage literacy, the library board wants to work more closely with the Uintah Literacy Council.
“We would like to invite them to have a couple of meetings in the library to see if we can help them identify additional individuals who they can help,” Passey said. “That is the role of libraries. We want to provide the scaffolding and support to programs where we can that will help others champion their causes that include literacy and reading.”
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Information from: Vernal Express,
