Stefanie Smith
ILS 565
Fall 2013
Assignment 4: Cost Finding
I began working at the Fairfield Woods Branch Library a few months ago. I was
hired to work in circulation: I am in need of full time work but the town only hires parttime people for desk work. Therefore our circulation desk employs many more employees
that I had first expected, due to the fact that all of us have a weekly cap of 19 hours. I was
curious therefore, in this assignment, to investigate the costs of a typical circulation
transaction at the library.
I am defining a “typical circulation transaction” to mean two books and for the
patron to pay a fine of about $7, the rounded results from dividing the reported totals
below. The amount of the fine doesn’t really reflect how much time it would take to
process, but this information is interesting nonetheless. To receive the amount of fixed
costs for a time frame for one transaction, I will average each transaction at five minutes. I
will be including the direct costs of the items on our desk, and also indirect costs such as
the building, maintenance, and supervising staff. In 2012, the annual sum of all fines
collected for the Fairfield Public Library system equaled $95, 302.52. The total items
circulated last year were equal to 1,012, 764, and the Library borrowers made 707, 524
visits. The branch library is open 65 hours/week  3,380 hours/year  202,800
minutes/year. If each transaction were averaged at 5 minutes each, that would equal
40,560 transactions/year. This calculation will be used to show how much each typical
circulation transactions costs the library. I am not using the circulation numbers in the
equation as that does not accurately portray how much time is spent on each transaction.
Fixed costs
Fixed costs represent supplies, technology, computers, and furniture that is
purchased for the purpose of executing the specific task in which the cost-finding is being
executed. The circulation desk has four workstations, and each has one of the following: HP
Compaq DC 7900 PC ($300), HP Compaq LA 1751g monitor ($200), STAR TSP100 receipt
printer ($275), Welch-Allyn barcode scanner ($100), and OneTime DVD unlocker ($65).
There are twelve carts used by circulation staff for the re-shelving of materials
($200/each), 75 metal bookends ($6/each), 10 canvas bags used to transport books
between the Main and Pequot libraries ($10/each). There are two phones on the desk
($75), one HP LaserJet 1200 series printer ($175), and a Sharp XE-A206 electronic cash
register for fines ($200). Office supplies include rubber bands, paper clips, pens, Sharpies,
and bookmarks ($100 total). The desk itself is 25-foot long standard work desk ($1500),
and there are two desk chairs for user registrations ($150/each).
Fixed Costs (total
quantities)
Workstations
Carts/Bookends/Bags
Phone/Printer/Register/
Office Supplies
Furniture
Value x
Quantity
$3,760
$2,950
$525
Lifetime
3 years
7 years
5 years
Total per
year
$1,253.33
$421.43
$205
Total per
transaction
$.03
$.01
$.005
$1800
10 years
$180
$.004
The total fixed costs of library equipment, office supplies, communications, and furniture
per transaction is approximately $.05. As you can see from the table, while these fixed costs
may seem expensive at the time of purchase for a library, when accounting for the lifetime
of the item and how many transactions they are used for, the cost is small.
Personnel Costs
The branch library has two FTE Circulation Supervisors who have an annual salary
of $65,130, or an hourly rate of $35.79 (assuming a 35-hour work week). The budget for 31
FTE members of staff benefits is shown in table. There are 14 part-time circulation aides at
the desk, with an hourly wage of $12.25 (no benefits). During a typical shift there are either
three aides working at the desk, one supervisor and one aide, or one supervisor and two
aides. The average is shown below.
FTE Staff Benefits
Annual Total
Divided by 31 FTE
Hourly benefits
rate for 2 FTE
supervisors
$23.65
$.26
$5.85
Health Care
Life Insurance
Social Security
$667,058
$7,203
$165,120
$21,518
$232.35
$5,326.45
Shift Personnel
3 Aides
1 Supervisor / 2
Aides
1 Supervisor / 1
Aide
Hourly Cost
$36.75
$60.29
Average Hourly Cost of Shift Personnel
$48.36
$48.04
The total hourly benefits rate for 2 full-time supervisors is $29.76, which means per 5minute transaction $2.48. Breaking down the average hourly cost of the different types of
shift personnel by 5-minute transaction would equal $4.03. Therefore the total personnel
cost per each typical circulation transaction equals $6.51.
Indirect Costs
According to the yearly budget, the cost for indirect building fees is as follows. These
figures are for the Fairfield Public Library system, which include the Main Library and the
Branch. The Branch is roughly 1/6 the size of the main library (or 10,000 sq.ft), and the
desk area is about 200 sq. ft., so fees are calculated thus:
Indirect Cost
Annual Rate
Utilities
Maintenance
Cleaning/Janitorial
$5,200
$55,000
$13,500
Annual Rate
Branch
$866.67
$9,166.67
$2,250
Annual Rate for
Circulation Desk
$17.33
$183.33
$45
Therefore the total annual rate of indirect costs, specifically for the area used in circulation
services is $245.66. If we break this down into how much it costs for a 5-minute typical
circulation transaction, this total equals $.006.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the cost of each 5-minute typical circulation transaction is as follows:
Costs
Fixed Costs
Personnel Costs
Indirect Costs
Total per transaction
$.05
$6.51
$.006
$6.57
By breaking down these larger costs we may not associate with each transaction, we can
see that it actually costs the library about $6.57 each time a patron checks out items from
the library. However, as discussed earlier, the library also made $95, 302.52 in fines last
year. This equals $2.34 per 5-minute typical circulation transaction. Since this money goes
back to the Town, this means that in total, the Town pays $4.23 each time there is a
transaction. I understand why the Town hires part-time workers instead of more full-time
however; as shown in the concluding table, the majority of expenses comes form the FTE
wages and benefits.
References
Dartmouth Controllers Office. (2012). Useful Life Schedule. Accessed at
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~control/equipfixed/depreciationsched.html
The Library Store. Library Supplies, School Supplies, Library Furniture, Book Covers, Book
Trucks, Book Protection. Retrieved from http://www.thelibrarystore.com.
Town of Fairfield. (2012). 2012-2013 Budget Proposal – Culture and Recreation: Library.
Accessed at http://www.fairfieldct.org/Finance/2012-2013/10CultureRecreation.pdf