Student Pay-for-Print Letter
Dear GWUMC Students,
This fall, Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library, in conjunction
with Gelman Library, will be instituting a pay-for-print
program for all printers in the library (the public printers
on the first floor, and the printers in the AV lab).
At this time, we are in the initial test phase and expect
to have the system in place by the start of the Fall 2002
semester. There will be no charge for printing until
that time. We anticipate charging $0.07 per page for printing.
In order to standardize the prices charged for printing and
photocopying, we hope to reduce our current photocopy charges
from $0.09 per page to $0.07 per page. As the University and
Medical Center work through the implementation of a pay-for-print
system, student needs are carefully being considered.
The Himmelfarb Library has worked closely with the Burns
and Gelman Libraries and the University's Research and Instructional
Technology Committee to establish an equitable policy. We
realize this is a major change for our patrons and regret
that we must now charge for printing.
Pay-for-print systems have become the norm at most academic
institutions as the introduction of electronic resources has
resulted in the substitution of printing for photocopy. The
entire George Washington University campus is experiencing
a serious printing problem. The campus libraries do not have
the budget to support the extremely heavy volume of printing
being experienced. The Himmelfarb Library has already used
twice its allocated printing budget to provide printing so
far this academic year.
Printing supplies such as toner and paper are very expensive.
On average, the library uses 17 cartridges (each cartridge
should last for about 15,000 pages) and 480 reams (there are
500 sheets per ream) of paper per month. These numbers often
increase at the beginning and end of each semester. In addition,
an estimated ¼ of all print jobs submitted are never
picked up. The printers are not designed to accommodate the
present printing load, which leads to frequent break-downs
and maintenance calls – another expense as well as an
inconvenience for our patrons.
It is expected that once the pay-for-print system is in place,
the amount of printer downtime will decrease; along with the
frustration these outages cause you, our patrons. In addition,
usage of toner and paper will also decrease, resulting in
less waste of these supplies – good news for the Library,
its users and the planet.
The system will be similar to the current photocopy system,
with debit dollars being subtracted from your GWorld card
to pay for your print jobs. With the new system, you will
be able to control what you print, and will be able to delete
those jobs from the print queue that you do not wish to pay
for.
If you have any questions or comments about the pay-for-print
program, please contact Beth Layton, Deputy Director, Library
Operations at (202) 994-9756 (email:mlbbal@gwumc.edu).
Anne Linton, Director
Library Services
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