Thank you to everyone who replied to my question about meeting room fees for technology assistance. Below are all the replies I received. - We don’t charge, but we recently changed the way we schedule our technology staff so that we have someone on-hand in the evenings. Previously the tech staff all worked during the day, but the meeting room rentals occur mostly in the evenings. We asked groups to set an appointment with the tech staff ahead of time to get a tutorial on using the a/v, but that wasn’t really working. We have one full-time Technology Manager and two assistants, so between the three of them, we are trying to have more coverage when that help is needed. There’s nothing worse than being alone at the reference desk in the evening and getting put on the spot trying to help someone figure out their laptop/projector/PowerPoint, etc.! - While I understand your point (we, too, can spend a lot of time helping in the meeting room), I treat it as a service. We find the groups to be very appreciative. I’d like to think that parlays into YES votes, but who knows… - We no longer rent out our rooms for many reasons including staff time and it duplicates another city service. We did charge a technology fee but one caution is when you charge a fee, expectations also raise up in service levels. - I may be misunderstanding your question and our meeting room does not have any built-in technology features, but we do not provide that level of support nor can I conceive of having the staffing to do so. We show them how to access/boot up/log on to whatever technology we offer and we assist with troubleshooting if there's an issue and answer questions if they seek us out while operating it to ask. However, if they're looking for someone to operate it on their behalf, they need to bring someone or look elsewhere. - We do not charge a fee, but we also do not run virtual/hybrid meetings for visiting groups. We tell folks using our rooms that we will have a tech person on hand to help them get their laptop hooked into our system, but they are responsible for setting up and running their own Zoom meeting. - We charge $25 per hour if a staff member needs to be present at a program for tech help (or any kind of help!). Room rentals are strictly that so anything extra has a charge associated with it. I have attached our policy to this email. - a. No fee for local non-profit groups - b. For-Profit groups and individuals = $75 for up to three (3) hours; $20 per additional hour - c. Use of Patio in addition to Community Room = $25 additional - d. BPL staff attendance or Technology assistance = $25.00 per hour additional - e. Use of BPL technology equipment = $25 additional - f. If serving food, $100 refundable cleaning deposit required - What about including it in your fee rather than having a separate charge? - We don’t charge for the rooms at Capital Area District Libraries (any cardholder in good standing can reserve them) and the only tech help we offer is helping them connect their device to the A/V cart we offer. Anything more than that, they’re on their own and we’re up front with people about that. It doesn’t meet everyone’s needs and we understand that it might not, but we’re up front that it’s 1) free and 2) not an event center where that kind of support might be expected and we stand firm on that. - We do for the theater, there is just too much involved, and it is not all our equipment. We charge $50, flat fee. Not saying that is ideal, but it does take time away from their other duties. - We don't, but we're not maxing out capacity or staff to handle it either.... On Wed, May 14, 2025 at 10:35 AM Michele Howard <mhoward@tadl.org> wrote:
Hello! TADL is seeing more groups renting our meeting rooms that need Technology Assistance to conduct their meetings in person and virtually. This can be quite time consuming for staff. Does anyone charge a technology fee for this service to help them?
I will summarize responses for the list. Thank you!
-- Michele P. Howard, MILS Library Director Traverse Area District Library 231-932-8527
-- Michele P. Howard, MILS Library Director Traverse Area District Library 231-932-8527