CO School Charges Library Fee

A fourth grader in Kersey, CO, has been banned from checking out school library books because her mother failed to pay a mandatory library fee.

The principal at Platte Valley Elementary School retrieved library books from nine-year-old Dorothy McClung because the school district requires all of its students to pay a $40 fee for library and media technology use, reported the Greeley Tribune.

Any student may use the library during the day for free. However, those who don't pay the fee are banned from checking out books. McClung's mother, Tami McClung, told the Tribune that she didn't pay the fee because she's a taxpayer and public schools shouldn't charge for borrowing books.

School officials say the school board instituted the fee this year because the district faces a $300,000 budget deficit. The library fees will help offset the cost of computer maintenance and the purchase of new books and software.

"We knew fees wouldn't be popular, but we'd rather do that than cut more programs," explains Superintendent Glen McClain. More than 80 percent of parents have either paid the fee or requested low-income waivers. Neighboring school districts require fees for certain activities and sports, but none are known to charge for library services.