City/County/Technical College Collaboration Leads Library Card to Eligibility Snafu

County/City Public Library East at Western Dakota Technical Institute

WDTI students cry foul over extra library fee. (Rapid City Journal, 3/3/2013)

Western Dakota Technical Institute (WDTI) students who live outside of Pennington County are, so far, on the hook to pay an annual $75 fee to check out library materials at the college in which they are enrolled.   (A 9-month card costs $55, a 3-month card $25.

Well, not quite, clarifies Steve Buchholz, WDTI marketing director.  Students may check out the school's resource materials with a student ID, but they need a public library card to check out materials owned by the city, which at this point they can only use onsite.

An "unfortunate conundrum", sez library supervisor Jason Walker.

I'd say!

The library is looking for a long-range solution, something other than an institutional library card, which is the current Band-aid approach.  Another idea.  A scholarship program to help students buy a card.

Rapid City Public Libraries

• Rapid City Public Library Downtown
• Rapid City Public Library North
• County/City Public Library East (at WDTI)