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Potential for fee-based library
services in Pakistan
Khalid Mahmood
Department of Library and Information Science, University of the Punjab,
Lahore, Pakistan
Abdul Hameed
Department of Special Education, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan,
and
Syed Jalaluddin Haider
Department of Library and Information Science, University of Karachi,
Karachi, Pakistan
Abstract
Purpose – To identify which library services could be provided on a fee-based model in Pakistan.
Design/methodology/approach – Surveying experts in Pakistani libraries, a questionnaire was
administered to determine both the types of library services that could generate revenue and the
viability of charging for library services.
Findings – Out of 32 identified information services, 12 were identified as excellent candidates for
the fee-based model. Another 16 were identified as having a better than 50 percent chance of success.
Originality/value – Identifies a minimum of 28 library services that may generate funds for
Pakistani libraries if they are changed to a fee-based model.
Keywords Libraries, Service charges, Customer service management, Resource management, Pakistan
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Pakistan, located in South Asia, is a developing country that was created in 1947 as a
result of the partition of British India. It is one of the ten most populous countries in the
world with a population base of more than 150 million. Two-thirds of the population
lives in villages. The economy of Pakistan is primarily driven by agriculture which
contributes about 24 percent to its gross domestic product and employs 48 percent of
the total workforce. Pakistan is one of the world’s largest producers of raw cotton,
which serves as the resource driving the textile industry – the mainstay industrial
activity in Pakistan. Pakistan’s per capita annual income is $492; nearly one-third of
the population can be classified as poor.
Pakistan is a multi-ethnic and multi-linguistic state. Urdu, the national language, is
the language of instruction in secondary schools. English is widely used in commerce
and business and continues to be the official language of Pakistan. It is also the
language of instruction at the higher levels of education, particularly in the fields of
science and technology. Pakistan’s literacy rate is 49 percent.
Politically, Pakistan is a federation of four provinces (Punjab, Sind, North-West
Frontier Province (NWFP), and Balochistan) and the Federal Capital Area of
Islamabad. Administratively, the provinces are made up of districts. The book trade is
poorly developed and there is little published, with output ranging between 860 and
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister www.emeraldinsight.com/0888-045X.htm
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The Bottom Line: Managing Library
Finances
Vol. 18 No. 4, 2005
pp. 172-179
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0888-045X
DOI 10.1108/08880450510632253
1,525 titles per year. With the exception of textbooks serving the lower 12 grades, all
instructional materials are acquired by libraries from the USA and the UK.
State of Pakistani libraries
Modern library services in the territories now encompassed by Pakistan began in 1915
with the arrival of Asa Don Dickinson, an American librarian and pupil of Melvil
Dewey. His goal at the University of the Punjab was to organize the university library
and to teach modern library methods to the librarians of the Punjab. The impact of this
school was tremendous on successive library developments throughout British India.
From 1915, the city of Lahore became the center of library activities. Following
independence, however, library development was largely neglected due to more
pressing problems. The present library scenario is not impressive at all. There were
6,034 libraries in 1989, with a total collection of 13,354,500 volumes (Khurshid, 1990).
Compared to other types of libraries, the university libraries are better placed with
respect to resources, organization, and staff. However, presently there exists a climate
of stagnation and decline in university libraries. The main factors responsible for this
state of affairs are declining budgets combined with ever rising inflation, which has
affected library growth and its services.
There is no organized public library system. The existing public libraries, mostly
subscription libraries, are under the charge of municipal and local bodies. The majority
of these libraries occupy temporary buildings and their holdings are largely out-of-date
fiction and books on history and religion. Only a few are properly staffed and one
seldom finds a qualified librarian. The services of these libraries are limited and their
main source of income is from grants included in the annual budget of the municipal
body and the subscription charged to users. The state of public libraries may also be
attributed to the absence of public library legislation.
The majority of special libraries are either attached to government departments and
institutions or to universities and colleges. A far smaller number of similar libraries
have been set up in recent years by industries and firms. These libraries are mainly
concentrated in large cities and metropolitan areas. Books and periodicals still form the
largest segment of their collections; with non-print and audiovisual materials being
virtually nonexistent. With respect to services, these libraries have not been successful
in moving beyond traditional approaches that place emphasis on a physical collection,
organization, and use of material rather than on analyzing and using data. The most
common and popular service provided by the specialized libraries is the listing of their
current acquisitions.
At present, eight university library schools provide instruction leading to
Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Library and Information Science. The PhD
program is available at the Universities of Karachi, Punjab, and Bahawalpur. The
MPhil is offered at Sind and Balochistan. Regional library associations offer courses of
short duration. Library Science is available as an optional subject at the higher
secondary and BA levels.
Over a dozen local, regional, provincial and national library associations currently
exist. All of these associations have contributed to the growth and improvement of
library services, but their contributions seem to result from random programs rather
than systematic planning. Their activities have been focused on current problems
rather than established objectives and long-range goals. For the most part they have
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173
concentrated their activities on securing better salaries and status for their members,
and perhaps lesser attention has been paid toward improving library services. Among
the associations having some kind of impact on the country’s library scene are the
Pakistan Library Association (PLA), the Pakistan Bibliographical Working Group
(PBWG), the Karachi University Library Science Alumni Association (KULSAA), the
Punjab University Library Science Alumni Association (PULSAA), and the Society for
the Promotion and Improvement of Libraries (SPIL). Most of these professional
associations were active until the 1990s, but are now inactive. Some newer and active
associations include the Pakistan Library Automation Group (PakLAG) and the
Medical Library Association of Pakistan (MELAP).
Fee-based library services in Pakistan
Fee-based services are recognized as alternative funding sources for libraries world-wide.
Many authors give economic, legal, ethical, political, social, managerial and professional
arguments in favor of fee-based library services. Such arguments given by Cartmill
(1992), Giacoma (1989), Myers (1993) and Savolainen (1993) are summarized below:
.Fees limit waste and over use of library services.
.With fees, the clients feel that they have acquired something that has value and
is of high quality.
.Fees are justifiable because the results for using information will benefit
individuals.
.The demand for fee-based services is a measure of the necessity of library
services. This will help management better plan for future needs.
.Fee-based services are managed more efficiently. Competition increases the
efficiency.
.Increasing costs make user fees a necessity.
.With fees, new services can be started.
.People already pay user fees for a number of public services (e.g. parks,
museums, bridges, highways) although they are supported by taxes. They
should also pay for library and information services.
.If fees are not collected, some of the costly services could be abused and thus
become a drain on the budget.
Pakistani libraries are poorly funded. Their current funding does not adequately fulfill
their needs. As a result, their future appears dismal. Fee-based services could be a good
alternative to public funding, but such services are not common in Pakistani libraries.
No comprehensive survey has been carried out with respect to fee-based services in
Pakistani libraries. Only indications of such services are found in some professional
writings.
In Pakistan, most of the libraries are part of the education system. Usually, there is
no trend for cost recovery in education. Public sector education is provided free or at a
nominal charge. Kardar (1998) states that tuition fees range from Rs0.50 per month for
primary education to a maximum of Rs240 per month for those enrolled in institutions
producing PhDs. In Punjab, monthly tuition fees are a mere Rs90 for a post-graduate
student, Rs240 per students enrolled in a medical college and just Rs50 payable by a
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student attending an engineering course; which translate to a potential cost recovery
rate of less than 1 percent. These user charges are even lower in the NWFP and
Balochistan. The amount of subsidy is the highest for the tertiary levels of education.
These subsidies have also risen over time because cost recovery in the education sector
has fallen from 12.7 percent in 1972-1973 to 2.9 percent in 1992-1993.
Various Pakistani authors also recommend cost recovery in education. Hasan (1998)
says that the quality of higher education has dropped due to low cost recovery. A much
higher rate of cost recovery may help to improve the efficiency of both public and
private sector institutions by increasing effective competition between the two which is
lacking at present. Kazi (1998) seconds this view by stating that one argument made to
overcome the funding deficiency is that fees should be increased; and, of course part of
the financial requirements should be met through fees. In a country like Pakistan, a
case can be made for participation of parents and students. A study conducted by
Koenig and Goforth (1993) disclosed that 77 percent of libraries in the USA, 43 percent
in The Netherlands and 33 percent in Pakistan were engaged in some kind of cost
recovery for library services.
Khokhar et al. (1987) stated that university libraries in Pakistan collect fines on
returned overdue books. The draft public libraries act proposed by the Technical
Working Group in 1984 imposed restrictions on charging for library services except for
book reservation, overdue fines, inter-library loans and making reproductions
(photocopy, etc.). This draft was also submitted to the Punjab Secretary Education by
the Director General Public Libraries in 1994 (Anwar, 1996).
The lack of literature on fee-based library services in Pakistan demanded an
empirical study on this topic. The aim of this study was to find out and analyze the
opinions of library leaders about various fee-based services with special reference to
Pakistani libraries.
Methodology
Perceptions of library leaders in Pakistan were gathered through interviews. A list of
library leaders to interview was prepared on the basis of the following criteria: a
reasonable professional experience (at least ten years); ensuring geographical
representation of the country (all provinces and the federal capital); ensuring
representation from various types of librarianship (public sector, private sector, library
education, library administration, foreign mission/agencies); having high qualifications
in library and information science (PhD, MPhil, master degree from abroad, master
degree from a national university); having been on senior professional positions (serving
or retired chief librarians/senior librarians of large libraries, chair persons of library
schools, etc.); participation in professional activities (present or past office bearers of
library associations); and professional contribution (authors of library literature).
Keeping in view the factors of time, energy and budget, a reasonable and
manageable sample of 60 persons was selected. A letter requesting participation in the
interview was sent to persons working/residing in eight cities of Pakistan (Lahore,
Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Multan, Bahawalpur, Jamshoro (Sindh), Karachi,
and Quetta). An acceptance form was also sent to each person in the sample. Of the
original 60 people, 50 (83 percent) agreed to be interviewed, nine (15 percent) did not
respond and one refused due to health.
A questionnaire was constructed on the basis of a literature review. To determine
the potential of fee-based services in libraries, the respondents were asked to give their
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opinion about the success various services would have if they were offered at a charge.
A list of 32 services was provided with an 11-point scale. The questionnaire was
supplemented by an audio-recorded interview. The questionnaire was sent to each
participant with a schedule for a visit. The principal researcher visited respondents at
their offices or homes according to the schedule, collected completed questionnaires,
and interviewed them with the help of a tape recorder. Of the original 50 participants,
46 completed the questionnaire and their recorded interviews. Two filled-in the
questionnaire but did not agree to be interviewed on tape. The other two recorded their
audio interviews but did not complete the questionnaire. As the questionnaire was the
major data collection instrument, the last two audio-only interviews were excluded
from the data analysis.
Opinions of library leaders about fee-based services
The respondents were given a list of 32 services with an 11-point scale. They were
asked to put a number between 0 and 10 in a box given for each service where 0 was
used for service having “poor” potential for success as a fee-based service and 10 for
“excellent” potential.
A rank order with highest mean (Table I) shows that the respondents perceived fee
potential in the services which can be provided using modern information technology.
The two services (having a mean greater than 8) are online searching and internet
browsing/e-mail. The next ten income generating areas (having a mean between 7 and
8) are recovery for lost books, photocopying, renting out conference hall/meeting room,
document supply from other libraries, translation services, training, computer
printouts, consultancy, opening a book/stationery store and searching CD-ROM
databases. 28 of the 32 total services have a positive potential in the opinions of the
respondents (means are greater than 5). The remaining four services having little
potential for revenue are binding/lamination, book reservations, charging for reference
questions, and issuing books.
The respondents added five “other” services in the list. These are research activities
in libraries, establishing book banks, establishing a textbook library, documentary
film, issuing best-seller books, and providing research assistance.
Analysis of audio-recorded interviews
Most of the interviewees responded positively to the question “Is there any potential in
our society for paying a fee for library services?” Only three respondents stated that
there is no potential for this. A large number (17) favored fee-based services in libraries.
Seven respondents recommended that a fee could be charged on some services, but not
all. Basic services should be provided free of charge as a public right of citizens (six
respondents). Similarly, library services should be provided freely to people in need.
The major purpose of charging fees should be cost recovery.
Respondents favoring fees gave various arguments to strengthen their point of
view:
.there is a trend toward self-reliance all over the world;
.without fees, libraries are unable to acquire costly new information technology;
.without fees, resources can be misused; and
.fees create a sense of responsibility in the users.
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Seven persons who did not favor fees for library services also gave arguments. Six of
them were of the opinion that fees will reduce the use of libraries, or that membership
will be declined. Some said that the library is a public institution and it should not
become a commercial organization.
Some of the interviewees explained the response of library users toward fees. Four
respondents stated that users do not resist fee. Another expressed that students
happily pay fines for overdue books. Two respondents stated that although users
cooperate on fees issued, higher authorities disliked connecting fees to library services.
Most of the interviewees who commented on this issue were of the opinion that people
will resist fees in the beginning, but this problem would be overcome with time.
The respondents mentioned various services which can be offered to generate
revenue in libraries:
.internet services can be a successful source of money;
.people can be allowed to use libraries for their functions and meetings for a fee;
Rank Service Mean
1 Online searching 8.32
2 Internet browsing/e-mail 8.02
3 Recovery for lost books 7.91
4 Photocopying 7.86
5 Renting out conference hall/meeting room 7.80
6 Document supply from other libraries 7.67
7 Translation services 7.55
8 Training 7.44
9 Computer printouts 7.40
10 Consultancy 7.23
11-12 Opening a book/stationery store 7.14
11-12 Searching CD-ROM databases 7.14
13 Sale of library publications 6.86
14 Fines for overdue items 6.80
15 Microfilm copying 6.72
16 Telephone calls/fax 6.57
17-18 Indexing/abstracting 6.56
17-18 Issuing audio-visual and other non-book material 6.56
19 Interlibrary loan 6.51
20 Sale of discarded books 6.41
21 Literature searching 6.18
22 Compiling bibliographies 6.16
23 Current contents of journals 6.11
24 Membership fees for primary users 6.04
25 Membership fees for non-primary users 5.80
26 Renting out part of the library building for
commercial use 5.66
27 Library use by non-members 5.47
28 Library card replacement 5.33
29 Binding/lamination 4.44
30 Book reservations 3.47
31 Charging for reference questions 3.44
32 Issuing books 3.22
Table I.
Rank order with highest
mean suggesting
potential for fee-based
services
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.shops or commercial areas attached to library buildings can be rented out;
.manuscripts and rare books can be microfilmed;
.rare books can be reprinted to generate money; and
.library security money can be invested for profit generation. Punjab Public
Library, Lahore, and Quaid-e-Azam Library, Lahore, are already earning money
from deposited library security.
Other fee-based services stated by the interviewees include: compilation of
bibliographies, photocopying, indexing and abstracting, interlibrary loans, sale of
publications, binding, sale of souvenirs, fax services, and sales of bestseller books.
Some interviewees specifically mentioned the details of fee-based services already
offered in their libraries. The American Center libraries in Pakistan charge for photocopy
services, Internet service, computer printouts, use of computers for word-processing, and
microfilm prints. Photocopying and Internet service are successfully offered as fee-based
services at the Government College, Lahore. Each teacher pays Rs1,000 per year as a
library membership fee at the Khyber Medical College, Peshawar. For database
searching a fee is charged at the NWFP University of Agriculture, Peshawar. The former
and present chief librarians of the Lahore University of Management Sciences made
specific mention of their corporate membership service, provided to business and
industry. A substantial amount is earned though this service. Similarly, the Aga Khan
University Library, Karachi, offers corporate memberships to pharmaceutical
companies. Member institutions are charged for photocopy, document delivery and
CD-ROM searching. Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro,
charges for internet, database searching and photocopies. The British Council Library,
Lahore, has set up a separate video library for which a fee is charged. Library
membership fees have been raised six times during a span of as many years.
An important issue that was discussed by four respondents is that the government
directly receives all types of income generated by public institutions, but that
institutions are given only their standard budgets. It was recommended that all money
earned in the name of a library should be spent directly on that library. This will enable
library staff to work hard to meet their financial goals based on fee-based services.
Conclusion
Library experts in Pakistan are in favor of charging fees for library services. They
mentioned a number of services that have potential for generating income. Services
based on modern information technology have the most potential for generating
income. Library leaders advocate for core services to be free of charge as a basic right
of citizens. To overcome the problem of poorly funded libraries, decision makers
should explore fee-based services. For this purpose, market surveys for various types
of libraries should be conducted. Training for library staff is also necessary if fee-based
services are to be offered successfully. Library associations can play a vital role in
promoting fee-based library services in the country. They can make their members
aware of the benefits of such services and train them.
References
Anwar, M.A. (1996), Public Library Legislation in Pakistan: Textual Sources, Library and
Information Management Academy, Lahore.
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Cartmill, D. (1992), “Charging for public library services”, Library Management, Vol. 13 No. 6,
pp. 25-41.
Giacoma, P. (1989), The Fee or Free Decision: Legal, Economic, Political, and Ethical Perspectives
for Public Libraries, Neal-Schuman, New York, NY.
Hasan, P. (1998), Pakistan’s Economy at the Crossroads: Past Policies and Present Imperatives,
Oxford University Press, Karachi.
Kardar, S. (1998), “The economics of education”, in Hoodbhoy, P. (Ed.), Education and the State:
Fifty Years of Pakistan, Oxford University Press, Karachi, pp. 43-67.
Kazi, M.H. (1998), “Financing higher education in less developed countries with special reference
to Pakistan”, in Talati, J.J. et al. (Eds), Higher Education: A Pathway to Development,
The Aga Khan University, Karachi, pp. 262-9.
Khokhar, M.R. et al. (1987), “The library budget: a study into its preparation and allocation of
resources in Pakistan, with special reference to academic libraries”, in Smith, I.A. (Ed.),
Librarians Course 1986, National Academy of Higher Education, University Grants
Commission, Islamabad, pp. 21-37.
Khurshid, A. (1990), “Library resources in Pakistan: problems and achievements”, Third World
Libraries, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 10-21.
Koenig, M.E.D. and Goforth, J. (1993), “Libraries and the cost recovery imperative”, IFLA Journal,
Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 261-79.
Myers, T.G. (1993), “User fees for information services: an exploration in North American
publicly funded libraries”, MLS-thesis, Dalhousie University, Halifax.
Savolainen, R. (1993), “The socioeconomic dimensions of the charging dilemma”, in Kent, A.
(Ed.), Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, Vol. 52, Marcel Dekker, New York,
NY, pp. 322-50.
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