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follows.
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I'm not an NFB member, but I think the collective membership within a 
chapter is a great idea.  I'm not all that surprised by RFB&D charging 
some sort of fee for their services, and suppose the $50 is similar to a 
deposit to cover unreturned tapes and such.  I think you will also see 
more "family" memberships where one family member drops his/her 
subscription and they both borrow under one account. 
I think it's a good idea to hear their explanation of the fee structure 
before passing too harsh a judgement.  In the meantime such ideas as the 
collective local chapter membership are great on several counds.
Don Bishop
On Sat, 22 Jun 1996 FCHAMBERS@aol.com wrote:
> 
> 
> Uh, thanks for the information, Jim,
> 
> 
> With this new policy of collecting annual fees, RFB&D must have thought about
> fee waivers.  I am confidant that those who can't scrape the money together
> can still subscribe free, right?  
> 
> 
> The whole idea of charging a fee for a public library is repugnant, and
> probably goes against Ben Franklin's original philosophy on lending
> libraries.  Overdue fines seem reasonable, but not membership fees.  It seems
> very wrong.  I'm not a Library Scientist, but I have volunteered at my local
> public library, and all public libraries that I have ever heard of are funded
> by the taxes that patrons pay.   Libraries seem "free" like most of our
> civilization's infrastructure.  If RFB&D patrons will be asked to pay a
> membership fee, we should expect a refund from our local libraries of print
> books.  We already pay taxes for libraries, so why isn't that money covering
> RFB&D?
>  
> 
> Here's an idea:  What if each NFB chapter subscribed, and then all the
> members could share the subscription?  RFB&D would not like it, I'm sure, but
> such a scheme could strengthen the chapters.  This can increase the
> usefulness of chapter membership, and may draw in new members.
> 
> 
> RFB&D has a monopoly, so we cannot usually get texts from other sources.  We
> could probably do something collectively that would cause them to rethink the
> policy.  
> 
> 
> What are everyone's ideas?
> Could we hold our books hostage?  (I probably have 8 of them out now.)
> Can we just order one of everything before July First?  
> Could we send all the boxes back empty?
> 
> 
> 
> Fred
> 
> 
> Frederick M. Chambers	The Center for Regenerative Studies
> FChambers@aol.com	California State Polytechnic University
> Phone:  909/468-1942	4105--202 W. Univ. Dr. Cal Poly; 91768
> CAA, NAA, NFB, TU                  http://www.csupomona.edu/crs/
> For info on our aquaculture:       aquaculture@CSUPomona.Edu
> 
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