Rise in library service fees

Library and archive service charges in Dudley are to rise from Monday as part of a move aimed at generating an extra £4,000 in income for the authority in the current financial year.

Some of the biggest price rises will be felt by people using the archives and local history service.

For the first time there will be a charge for groups wanting a talk from a historian of £30. Previously a donation is all that has been asked for.

Charges for using the research service will rise from £8.50 for 30 minutes to £10 while photocopying prices will also go up. Within libraries increases will include an extra 5p for reserving books from the inter library loans service from £1.50 to £1.55, CD hire going up from £1.00 to £1.05 and DVD hire from £2 to £2.05.

One of the larger increases will be for bulk music loans which will increase from £10.20 to £15. The council has stressed the new charges will bring them into line with other Black Country authorities. A number of charges including video hire and overdue fees for books will be frozen.

A report drawn up by Dudley Council states: "The increases in fees and charges for the archives service will bring them into line with those charged by the archives services in Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton. The introduction of a fee for talks to groups reflects the amount of time it takes to prepare a professional talk for groups in the borough."