Loading ...Mt. Washington library branch cost per visit is high
by Mountain Girl ~ November 3rd, 2009. Filed under: Latest News.The Carnegie Library is releasing a study done by CMU today showing, among other things, that costs per visits have gone up significantly at the branches they are slating for closure or consolidation.
…the Main Library’s cost is $2.20 per visit, Squirrel Hill, $2.30, and the Downtown branch, $2.60. West End, one of the two smallest branches, has the highest cost at $9.60 per visit. The other branches’ costs are: Lawrenceville, $5.70; Beechview, $5.30; Knoxville, $4.80; Hazelwood, $4.80; and Carrick, $4.60. The Mount Washington branch on Grandview Avenue, the twin building of the West End, is also among the most expensive at $5.30 per visit. The board plans to close the 1900 building and open a new facility near Virginia Avenue. READ MORE OF THIS POST-GAZETTE ARTICLE HERE.
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November 4th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
LIBRARIES’ STATISTICS!!!!!!
The cost per visit was taken from Bob Hoover’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article of November 3, 2009. (Study done by CMU.)
The hours of operation are taken from the Carnegie’s website.
Branch Total hours of operation Cost per visit
Main 60 hrs $2.20
Allegheny/North Side
Beechview 37 hrs $5.30
Brookline 46 hrs
Carrick 37 hrs $4.60
Downtown/Business 46½ hrs $2.60
East Liberty 48 hrs
Hazelwood 36 hrs $4.80
Hill District 37 hrs
Homewood 39 hrs
Knoxville 38 hrs $4.80
Lawrenceville 39 hrs $5.70
Blind/Handicapped 40 hrs
Mt. Washington 38 hrs $5.30
Sheraden 37 hrs
South Side 38 hrs
Squirrel Hill 52 hrs $2.30
West End 30 hrs $9.60
Woods Run 41 hrs
It only stands to reason that if a branch is open fewer hours the cost per visit is going to be higher simply because fewer patrons can use the library if it is NOT OPEN!
The longest hours available for use are at the Main branch which is therefore the lowest
cost per visit. The shortest hours available for use are at the West End branch with the highest cost per visit of $9.60.
They can manipulate (and increase cost per visit) by cutting the hours for that particular branch. This is certainly not a fair assessment.
November 6th, 2009 at 10:42 am
…Of course I will assume you realize that extending the hours does also increase the cots of operation.
although….no idea how much extra it costs per hour to be open …vs the additional visitors that may use the library.
November 8th, 2009 at 7:18 am
someone: I’ll put this so you can understand Fixed Costs: Let’s pretend you could buy a Steelers’ season ticket for a fixed cost of $4,000. Say they play 20 games per year. (That is they are OPEN for you to attend a game and you have a season ticket). The unit cost, what it would cost you per game, would be the fixed cost of a season ticket ($4,000) divided by the number of games played (20) equals the cost per game or unit cost. $4,000 divided by 20 = $200 per game.
Now let’s just say the Steelers were “OPEN” to play more games each year [a dream of many fans] say double–40 games per year. The fixed cost of a season ticket ($4,000) divided by the number of games played (40) equals the cost per game or unit cost. $4,000 divided by 40 = $100 per game.
As you can see, the more frequently they are opened, the less it costs you.
What I believe you are “thinking” about (and that is a good thing) would be called “variable costs”. However, variable costs can be manipulated in a great many ways to get the “result” you want, such as the cost of a scalper’s ticket, or in our case, the Carnegie Library.
November 8th, 2009 at 10:23 am
I think I get what you are saying regarding fixed vs. variable costs….
My understaning of the cost per visit calc was that it was based on the cost to operate for a certain period divided by the number of visitors in that same period.
So, for example lets say on average our branch costs $1000/month to operate (this incluses ALL costs…some flat expenses that are fixed whether or not the library is EVERY open – like taxes, insur, “rent” etc …some variable like ultilities, and wages that would fluctuate based on how much is needed to runt he place.)
If there are on avg 250 visits/uses of the libraryper month then we couls say that the branch costs $4/visit ($1000 per month in costs divided by the 250 monthly visits = $4/visit)
So if you increase the hours of operation by say 15% – one could argue that certain expenses would increase. For instance you would need to pay employees for the extra time, and since I would assume they turn the lights off and the heat down when they leave those costs would go up with increasd hous of operation.
So, if you increase a portion of the costs to be open more, you would need to be certain that the visits would also go up… or youwould basically be INCREASING the cost per visit making the situatino worse.
So, now we are open longer, which is costing us on avg $1200/month but if visits per month remains flat at 250 visits your cost per visit increases to $4.80
Thats what I am thinking about – and while I am aware that these costs can be “manipulated” and booked in various ways to make the numbers come out the way you want (i think the folks at Enron might have some input on manipulating the numbers) the simple facts remains that it might not be as simple as just being open longer.
you could switch the hours of operation to 11pm -8am and the costs to runt he place would stay roughly the same but the visits would go way down….
So it would seem to figure out when the most folks would use the place and cater to that… maybe a study would show that there is high demand on weekends and less on say a tuesday…maybe it would be more efficient to switch to being open on Sat and sun and closed on maybe monday tuesday…. expenses would stay flat but visits might go up…
November 10th, 2009 at 7:45 am
DON’T MOVE OUR LIBRARY—WE ARE EMINENTLY HAPPY WITH OUR DOMAIN
You may rent or own a modest little home. You may have a job of little consequence. You may not have the money to be online or have a home computer, travel around the world or attend any elegant events, BUT when you step out the huge double doors of our Mt. Washington library, that world-class spectacular, stunning view is yours. You have the right to take it all in. You have the right to be there. It is your domain. For that moment you have a crumb of what it is like to have a piece of the pie.
Your domain on the inside of that beautiful, historic library building is another experience—high ceilings, rich wood, brass fittings, marble floors—all bring another experience of stepping back in time, an appreciation of what cannot be bought any more. To fulfill your yearning for knowledge, books and services are there at your fingertips.
It is yours. Don’t be so foolish to relinquish your right and give that up for any reason!
November 11th, 2009 at 8:25 am
Circusvue,
could not agree with you more.
well put!
November 14th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Well, it’d be nice if they were open when I come home from work more than twice a week… I’m not off until 5pm (as I’m assuming most people don’t get off until around 5 or 6) and it’s only open until 7pm on Tuesday and Thursday.