The issue of fees for use of museum library collections and
services goes directly to the question of the most
fundamental mission of a museum.
 
There are actually several related issues which need to be
addressed.
 
1) What is the museums role in public education and how do
        fees affect (complement or contradict) that role?
 
2) Is direct fee-for-service the most appropriate way for
        public service institutions to support their
        operations? (i.e. the entire field of development
        (grants and donations)  exists to provide practical
        alternatives to direct fees)
 
3) To what degree has museum culture recognized:
        a) that information management is an essential
                component of the public education mission of a
                public museum?
        b) libraries are among the most qualified and competent
                coordinators of information management (by virtue
                of long experience and training)?
 
To take natural history museums as an example, we have a
large and growing role to play in supporting the national
initiatives to reform science education.
 
An essential -- and largely unrecognized -- aspect of
science education reform will be training students (and
teachers) to pursue effectively their scientific interests
using both traditional libraries and innovative information
technologies.  How will fees for service affect this
necessary development?
 
Food for thought.
 
Tom Moritz
Academy Librarian
California Academy of Sciences
San Francisco