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Volume 40, Issue 3
September 24, 2002
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Library
printing policy brings new equipment, reduces waste
By Justin Buehler
For the Mesa Legend
The papers began to pile up. The ink started to run dry.
Long lines of students became part of the routine.
To relieve the tense situation, a new policy was introduced.
The new pay-for-printing policy in the library became a reality last semester
at Mesa Community College.
Although the policy shift happened quickly, students were not left in
the dark without notification.
To help with the transition and to spread the word, library employees
put advertisements on computer screens prior to the change.
Announcements about the new policy were made over a year ago as well,
and follow in the footsteps of many other schools around the valley.
With the new policy came new equipment.
All the old printers were replaced with new printers.
One of which wasn't available at MCC until the policy shift.
"We have a color printer now, we never offered color printing before,"
said librarian Ann Tolzman.
Additional machines were purchased that collect student funds.
They work similar to ATM machines and require students to use their school
I.D. cards to pay for printing.
Each copy costs 10 cents and has helped the library cut down on resource
waste.
Paper was the main source of misuse before the addition of the new policy.
Copies of whole websites were being printed out when only certain sections
were needed.
Printing traffic was leaving stacks of papers that were unaccounted for.
The printers also weren't made to handle the amount of copies that were
being printed.
This caused pages to back up and ultimately left students waiting longer
for their copies.
Money was also wasted according to Tolzman, who said, "We were spending
thousands of dollars a week on toner and paper."
The cost for the library to convert to the new system has left the school
in negative figures.
With a budget of a $1,000 plus a week, they hope to eventually break even,
although that is unlikely to happen any time soon.
The reality is that MCC will unlikely profit from the pay-for-printing
policy according to Tolzman.
If there is a profit, those funds would be circulated back into library
materials.
Until then, MCC will be making monthly payments to IKON, and outside contractor,
in a rent-to-own type of agreement.
After 3 years, MCC will own the printers and the other equipment.
In retrospect, there hasn't been a change in the amount of materials that
are being used in the library.
Students are still printing as much as before, but now they are only printing
what they need.
"The cost, and when the printer's not working and they shut it down,
tell the people," said Margaret Bauer, MCC student, on how changes
could be made to the printing policy.
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