| Summary: | Alberta is the wealthiest province in Canada. It is also the only jurisdiction in NorthAmerica where the majority of local library boards charge patrons to use their publiclibraries.There are many reasons why these fees came into being in the 1980s and continue toexist today. Library trustees see them as an easy source of funds for their cashstrappedlibraries, some librarians feel that they help instill a sense of value in librarymaterials and services, library patrons realise the fees are often less than the cost of asingle paperback book and don’t mind paying them.But the main reason the fees still exist is because of the unique form of conservatismespoused by the popular Alberta premier Ralph Klein, who favoured big business, lowertaxes, and privatization of public services while leading the province from 1992 to 2006.Klein’s policies included a focus on user-pay models for all manner of services. Payingfor library cards is something that Alberta’s citizens have accepted for the most part. Butbecause of Alberta’s strong support for user-pay models, this isn’t just an issue for thelibrarians, patrons, and politicians of that province. The possibility also exists thatlibraries in other provinces could be opened up to a GATS challenge by for-profitcorporations outside of Canada because of Alberta’s current user fee policies.How this unique user fee arrangement developed, the current situation, and what thefuture may bring will be the subject of this paper.
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