Here at St. Louis University, we dedicate the income from the
copy machines to student supplies. We figure the budget, including all
overhead costs (including the personnel costs to reload paper, unjam
machines, etc.), and then, the surplus is alloted for supplies. This
arrangement was set up when the first pay copiers came into the library.
We have never thought of these supplies as eating up the library budget.
In addition, the photocopy budget has, up until recently, brought in
enough that we have purchased student p.c.'s with the surplus.
We do have trouble with walking staplers, etc. The poor little
things have a mighty short shelf life when exposed to public use! We
have chained all the stuff to a table in the main copy room, except a
hole punch and paper cutter that are too large to wander. We recently
bought an electric stapler (heavy duty) to see if it lasts longer than
the mechanical ones. Too soon to tell. We have used plier-style
staplers to avoid the tendency to pound the stapler. That has been
modestly successful.
We hand out pens and pencils on _loan_. They come back better
if you tape your name or LIBRARY onto the barrel. We have trouble
keeping white-out. Usually, we pull a bottle out of our desk, making
a great noise about how many of them we have lost and we hope not to
lose this one. It works pretty well.
As mentioned, CIRCPLUS has had quite a discussion on similar
concerns. It is a chatty list, but worth dipping into on a regular
basis just to see what's going on. Not much flaming; they're nearly
as tolerant as law-libbers.
Yours,
Betsy McKenzie
Readers Services Librarian
St. Louis University
Law School Library
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