Fax Services at the Library

Weeks Public Library asked (3/12/08) Does anyone offer faxing for patrons? If so, what do you charge? Do you charge per fax or by pages sent? Do you limit pages sent per call? Who actually sends the fax, staff or patron?

Here are the responses they recieved:

For comparison:
Kinkos in Portsmouth charges $1.49 for page one and $1.00 for each additional page for local calls. For long distance they charge $2.49 for page one and $1.49 for each additional page. Faxes received are $1.49 a page. For International faxes they charge $5.99 for page one and $3.99 for each additional page. There is some type of a discount for large faxes, so a 60 page fax (we’ve had a 60 page fax within the last two weeks and the patron was charged $1.00) would cost $59.90.

Staples in North Hampton offers a free Staples Cover Sheet and charges $1.50 for page one and $1.00 for each additional page. Out of state is $2.00 for page one and $1.50 for each additional page. Incoming Fax domestic is $1.00 page. Outgoing International is $5.00 for page one and $3.99 for additional pages.

• We offer free faxing, as we don't send that many a year. It's one service we can offer the town.
• We do offer faxing. $1 per sent page, $2 per received page. Some patrons do it themselves, often I do it for them. The service is popular, so here in [town] I would up the price before deleting the service. We have no policy as to pages sent. the most we have ever sent is 7. I don't let them send cover pages, big waste of resources.
• We charge $1.00 to send a fax (no limit - haven't found that to be necessary) and $1.00 to receive up to 10 pp, after that it's an additional .10/p. We send the fax ourselves, because people might not know how to use the machine (which way the paper goes, etc) and because we use a calling card (.03/min) for all long distance and we have to put the code in when we dial.
• no we don't (offer fax service)
• We fax for our patrons. Two dollars for the first page and one dollar for each page there after. International is five dollars for first page and three dollars after. Receptions are one dollar per page. A staff member does the fax because the machine is located in the office.
  No limit.
• $3.00 for first page; $1.00 for additional. If a cover page is needed for a multi-page fax, that is free. Then there is the question of faxes to 800 numbers. We're inconsistent about those. With the exception of one fax, we make BIG money on this service. The cost of most sent faxes is less than a dollar. Even the overseas ones haven't been expensive. Actually because our machine uses a carbon paper roll, receiving faxes is more expensive and we only charge $.15 per page for those.
• We do have a FAX machine available for public use, and have had for at least 7 or more years. The cover page is free, the first page is $1.00, and each subsequent page is .25.
  -To receive a FAX the charge is .25 per page.
  -If an international FAX is being sent we charge $7.00 for the first page and .25 for each subsequent page.
  We haven't revisited our pricing, so I would be interested to see what you find out.
• Here in [town] we do fax for patrons. We charge $2.00 for faxes up to 5 pages and if it is more than 5 we charge .50 for each additional page it does not matter if they are local or not. The staff does send all the faxes as the fax machine is in a back office so we have that control. We have also had patrons send faxes here to the library and we charge $1.00 per page.
• We do offer FAX services. The staff does the sending. We do not limit pages. $1.00 for first page, .50 each additional. International: $5.00 first page, 1.00 each additional Receiving faxes: .10 per page
• In [town], we charge $1.00 for the first page and .50 for any extra pages; no limit of pages sent. The staff does the sending because of where the fax machine is located.
• Yes, we fax documents for patrons. We charge $1/page and a staff member does the faxing. We don't limit the number of pages, but to date no-one has faxed more than 5 or 6 pages at a time.
• We charge $3 for the first page and $1 for each page after. No limit, the staff sends the fax. Haven't had any quibbles from anyone. They seem to just be glad of the service.
• Loudon charges $3.00 for the first page and $1.00 for additional pages. We don't limit the number of pages sent. The fax machine is behind the circ. desk and is operated by the staff. We just about break even with the charges to our phone bill and do not do international calls.
• Here in [city], reference staff are available to send faxes for customers. We charge $2 for the first page, and $1 for each page thereafter. Staff do the actual sending of the fax, (the fax machine is set aside in our reference office,) while the customer waits at the reference desk. We offer cover sheets to customers but don't charge for that page to be sent. We also allow customers to have faxes sent to the library on their behalf. The charge in that case is $1 per page received.
• 1 first page. 25 cents more pages. no limit on size of document faxing. patron may fax, though staff usually does it. What does staples charge? It's not like we are in competition but we should charge at least that much.
• We have a fax for patrons. Our original machine was bought with grant money just for that purpose. We had to replace that one last year. We charge 50 cents a page to send. To receive, 10 cents per page (we don't receive many.) I do charge more for very long-distance calls and often reduce the rate for multiple page faxes if they are going to a number in NH or a toll-free number.
• $1 per sheet. It is really a hassle, because our machine is so temperamental, but people do appreciate it.
• [Library] has a fax only for the use of staff.
• [Library] does offer fax services. The charge $1 a page either to send or receive. The fax machine is in the staff workroom so staff send and receive the fax.
• Yes, we fax for $1.00 per page outgoing to cover phone charges (.10 per page incoming to cover paper) We do not limit pages. Staff does the faxing as it is in our staff office. I would be wary of international faxes as those can get pricey.
• We have staff place the faxes for patrons. It is $2.00 for the first 5 pages and 1.00 for each page after that.
• [Library] has a fax service that the public may use. There is a cost of $.25 per page. If a patron is familiar with fax machines and comfortable sending faxes, they are on their own. Some patrons (actually quite a few) have no idea what to do, so we send it for them. We do not encourage patrons to have faxes sent here, for us to hold for them. I have not needed to limit pages (yet). We require patrons to send flat, neat pages without staples, folds or tears, because our fax machine jams easily, so patrons must make photocopies if the original is not acceptable ($.10 a page). So far we have not had many problems and most patrons are so grateful that they leave an extra donation. (usually less than a dollar but every little bit helps!)
• [Town] faxes for patrons. $2/page sending or receiving. Staff sends.
• [Town] offers fax services, staff sends the fax. We charge $1.00 a page for an outgoing fax with a $6.00 limit. We do not charge for an incoming fax. We also had a rather large phone bill and discovered some of the faxes were international calls. We were not aware they were international when the faxes were sent, just out of area. We now have a block on the phone that doesn't allow us to make international calls. It is a service that is well used and greatly appreciated by our patrons.
• No fax service for patrons. They are sent next door to the Mobile station.
• A couple of random thoughts on your fax dilemma--we don't get asked very often to send faxes but when we do we ask for a donation...One of us directors sends the faxes (the machine is in our office) but staff knows how to use the machine. Is there a Kinko or anyone else in town that you can compare prices with? Or at least get a general idea--no Kinko? Town office...doctor's office...It is great to offer services such as these, but you're right, you have to be able to at least cover your costs.
• We are a private library open to the public. At [library] we charge $2.00 for initial page and $1.00 each additional page for outgoing FAX. International use will include the cost of the phone call plus the above. We really discourage international calls. Incoming fees are: $.25 per page for 1st 5 pages and then $.10 each page after five. The staff does the FAX since it can be tricky with our FAX machine and we can check if it is an international call or not. Also if pages are wrinkled we have the patron make a copy so it will go through the FAX ok. Our primary use of the FAX is for library use but we do offer public use also. We don't limit pages as yet. We are going over the policies this year so anything could change.
• We charge a $1.00 going out and $.50 coming in. Staff sends the faxes.
• Here at [library], we charge $1.00 for every 5 pages & $2.00 for every 5 pages to an international number. These fees apply for sending & receiving. Staff members are responsible for the sending.
• We charge $1.50 for the first page and .50 for all others. Some 'regulars' send their own and pay at the desk. Others need assistance.
• We fax for patrons at 2.00 for the 1st page, and 1.00 for each additional page. Most faxes are either 800 numbers or in state so we have not had a problem with bills not being covered. The office machine company down the street charges the same as we do.
• We fax for patrons. Staff does it. (I really wouldn't let patrons mess with the fax machine.) We charge $1.00 per page- sending or receiving. We use 10-10-321 for out-of-state calls that are not toll-free. In fact we use 10-10-321 for all our out-of-state long distance calls. It's much cheaper than having long distance service that you have to pay for every month whether you use it or not.
• [Town] charges $2 first page, 1$ second page, max $6 outgoing and $1 incoming, max $3. Staff sends the fax.
• Yes. We charge $1 a page. The staff sends the fax. We don't limit the size.
• We charge $1 per page except we don't charge for a cover sheet.
  Staff send the fax mostly because we have a fairly old machine and it's in a work area. We don't limit the number of pages and have not found it to affect our phone bill a lot. I'd estimate we send maybe four or five a week. It saves patrons from having to leave town. I don't even know where the nearest option might be from here so they really appreciate it.
• We offer fax services. For outgoing faxes we charge $3.00 for the first page (doesn't include cover), then $1.00 for each page after. For incoming, we charge $2.00 for the first page and $1.00 for each after that. We haven't limited pages and the staff sends the fax.
• We, in [town], do the actual faxing for patrons. We charge $1.00 per page, excluding the cover sheet. We have pre-made coversheets with our Library name & address, but they can use their own cover sheet or no cover sheet. If the fax is to be sent out of the country, we charge $5.00 per page (I don't know where this amount came from). We do not limit the # of pages to be sent. I've never had anyone complain about the fee. There are a couple of companies in town that charge more than we do, so maybe our price is good. I can fax you a copy of our fax cover sheet if you are interested. Anyway, we do quite a good business with faxing!
• We charge $1 per fax. Generally, there haven't been many over 3 or 4 pages. We place the fax, rather than the patron.
• [Town] charges $1 per page to send faxes. The staff does the actual sending. We used to charge $2 for the first page and $1 for each additional page, and would not send international faxes. We changed the fee about a year ago and just sent our first international fax last week. We have not charged for incoming faxes, but have been considering doing so, as these consume paper and ink supplies.
• [Town] does offer faxing service for our patrons, we charge $2 for 1st page , and $1 each additional page to SEND, and $1 per page to RECEIVE. We do the actual faxing, as it is just easier. We don't offer International service. My phone bill is minimal, and well worth offering to your patrons, we have gotten several new members as a result of making this service available to the public.
• We automatically send folks to two local businesses that provide this service due to the trouble, time, and cost involved. Also, many times people are faxing to get business info to a place on time and never wanted to take on the responsibility for that if something went wrong. Kudos to you for providing the service...good luck finding a solution!
  For printing, I estimated the cost (cost of paper; number of copies a cartridge will print) then we tripled the cost to the public so we could pay for our copying needs and to have $$$ to replace the copier when it 'dies'. Just an idea for costing out your services.
• We charge $1.00 per page. They send it themselves.
• [Town] charges $2/ page outgoing and $1/page receiving. The fax machine is in my office so I do the faxing. When I compare the telephone charges with the receipts, it's in our favor. Faxing a long document takes some time, however I just bought a new machine that has a HUGE memory so even a refinancing contract with all the pages goes pretty fast.
• We charge $1.50 per fax. So far, we haven't had issues with large phone bills. Did your patron send multiple times, or did the connection not break after sending? Staff members send the fax here.
• We offer this service and charge $1 per page, both sending & receiving. Staff members send the fax, as the machine is in my office.
• $3 first page, $1 additional to send, 1$ a page to receive, Photocopy of non-US area codes taped to fax machine to check and charge $3 EXTRA for. Staff faxes.
• We do faxes. We charge .25 per page for local numbers and $1.00 per page for long distance numbers. We do the actual faxing part and there is no limit on the pages one can fax.
• I am attaching our Fax policy. I hope it helps. Just FYI it is behind the desk with our copier and is staff operated only!
  Appendix 6. Amendment. Fax Policy
  Fax Machine Number xxx-xxxx
  The [Library] will offer its fax machine for use by the public. The fax machine will only be available for use during the scheduled operating hours of the library.
  The rates are as follows:
  $1.00 a page instate – to send
  $ 2.00 a page out of state - to send
  $ 4.00 a page international – to send
  $ 1.00 a page to receive
  Faxes that are received at the Library are to be picked up within one week of the date it is received. If it is not picked up by that time, it will be destroyed. Patrons are responsible for making sure that their faxes are picked up in a timely manner. All patrons will pay for their faxes at the time that they are sent/received. Should the Library find that people are abusing the machine and sending so-called “trash faxes” to the Library, The Board of Trustees will review the situation and may choose to suspend the service of receiving faxes.