Mailing Library Materials May Get More Expensive This Spring

Staff -- School Library Journal, 1/1/1998

If the U.S. Postal Service has its way, the cost of mailing a three-pound library rate package may jump by 26.5 percent. Libraries would spend $2.48 to mail that package, instead of $1.96, if the Postal Rate Commission approves the hike in April or May. That increase is significantly higher than the 4.5 percent average increase proposed for all other types of mail, according to ALA's Washington Office. If the library rate increase goes through it could "jeopardize the mailing of materials for review and interlibrary loan," said Ann Heanue, Associate Director at ALA's Washington Office. Heanue (aah@alawash.org) is seeking examples of how the rate increase would adversely affect libraries.