Dear SPAL user,

You will find below proposed charges which we have developed with a view to ensuring NewSPAL can cover its costs from its income (from charges and subscriptions). We have tried to be fair to the many different categories of users, recognising that this is a community resource but if we underprice and/or give concessions to one group of users that necessarily means that, to achieve the same overall level of income, we would need to charge others more. 

Some questions are directed specifically at either music groups, drama groups or individual users. Please only fill out the questions which are relevant to you or your group. If you use the library as an individual user and are completing this survey on behalf of a group we would kindly ask that you fill out the survey twice to ensure we have captured the full use of the service. We would be grateful if you could complete this survey by Monday 4th November at 10am.

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* 1. How do you currently use the SPAL service? (Please select all that apply)

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* 2. Music groups
Music groups will continue to access the service on Pay As You Go, monthly per individual copy (or orchestral set). They will not be required to pay a subscription fee. We are proposing the below charges per month. 

Type Charges per month
Orchestral set £20 per set
Partsongs (sheet scores) 35p per copy
Small vocal score (50 pgs and under) 45p per copy
Large vocal score (51 pgs and over) 55p per copy

Taking into consideration the additional cost of courier delivery, if required (please see Q6 below for courier charges) please let us know, in relation to the way you use the SPAL collection at the moment, whether, if the charging structure were as proposed, you would use the library more, less or about the same.

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* 3. Orchestral set cost

If you hire orchestral sets would you like there to be a difference in cost between small and large orchestral scores*? Please note, small orchestral scores would be charged at the rate outlined in Q2 at £20 per month per set.

*Small orchestral - any small work where performance length is less than 10 mins (on average) 
Large orchestral set - any large work where performance exceeding 10 mins in length (on average)

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* 4. Drama groups
Drama groups will continue to access the service through annual subscription. There will be no additional hire fees on top of the annual subscription.  We are proposing an annual cost of £50 (50% discount available for groups with 9 or fewer members).

Please let us know, in relation to the way you use the SPAL collection at the moment, whether, if the charging structure were as proposed, you would use the library more, less or about the same.

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* 5. Individual users
As NewSPAL will not be part of a council library service it will not be possible to provide a service free of charge to individual users. We are aware that this is a significant change, however this is necessary in order to ensure the service is financially sustainable. 
Individual users will now be required to pay an annual subscription to access the service. We are proposing an annual subscription of £24 to hire up to 10 titles at a time (but not more than one of the same title). Individual users will only be able to pick and drop off at the library building based in Woking. Courier delivery will not be possible for individual users.

Please note we will offer a 50% discount concessionary rate proposed for (1) people in receipt of Universal Credit, Income Support or Job Seekers Allowance, (2) under 18 and/or students in full time education; and (3) registered disabled.  Therefore concessions would pay a subscription of £12pa.

Taking the above into consideration, at the charge of £24pa would you:

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* 6. Collection and delivery
There will always be the option to collect sets in person from the new library building in Woking (post code:  GU21 6JJ).  However, we will also be offering courier delivery to an address of your choice for set hires. We have researched reputable couriers which offer insurance. We are also now looking in to the option of choosing a delivery time slot as well as being able to track your delivery online. Finally, we are considering a very light parcel delivery option in response to your query about this. You will be able to choose return or single way courier and you will be responsible for paying the courier charges below. 

Courier charges (UK mainland):

Weight Return cost One-way cost
Under 8kg £17 £8.50
Under 15kg £29 £14.50

Taking the above costs into consideration would you:

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* 7. Opening hours
The library service including ALL browsing, ordering and paying can be done online. It will be possible to reserve items up to 12 months in advance as well as request Inter Library Loans online, as the system will show real time availability of the collection.

We envisage most people will access the service online, however we are aiming for the library building to be open to the public approx. 18 hours per week. This would ideally comprise of at least: one morning, one afternoon, one evening and part of Saturday. Opening hours would be for browsing, picking up, dropping off and/or requesting librarian advice via phone or email.

Please indicate when would be most convenient for you or your group to visit the library to browse or pick up a reservation. You can select up to 3 preferences.

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* 8. Inter Library Loans
We will be re-instating the Inter Library Loans (ILL) service for items which are not in the NewSPAL collection but may be available from local authority library services elsewhere in the UK. NewSPAL would conduct a manual search contacting up to 6 other authorities to find an item. This service would be offered to all groups in Surrey, West Sussex and Kingston. There would be an admin fee of £10 per title requested via ILL whether or not the search was successful. This service is not available to individual users.

How likely is your group to use the ILL service and how often?

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* 9. This service is run and shaped by users, and so it will always seek to respond to the needs of its users, balancing these only with the necessity of breaking even financially as there is no subsidy from Surrey Council or anyone else for this service.

Thank you very much for finding the time to let us know your thoughts on the proposed new service. Please use this box to let us know any other comments, questions, or concerns you have.

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