Tough decisions: phasing out a popular option to maintain overall service viability

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the University of Mississippi Libraries' experience in implementing a printing cost-recovery service, unexpectedly finding itself managing a large number of cash transactions, and ultimately – many years later – eliminating the cash payment option. Design/methodology/approach – An analysis of print logs was completed along with a study of the various costs (hardware/software, personnel, consumables, and transaction fees) in order to examine the total operating costs of the system. Findings – Personnel costs related to cash transactions were the greatest expense related to operating the system. Increasing cash-handling costs were driving up the overall operating costs of the public print system. After the cash payment option was eliminated, overall print volume decreased, but the corresponding decrease in operating expenses meant that the library had new opportunities for expanding the and enhancing the service. Originality/value – This case study could be of benefit to others looking to do a similar analysis of fee-based services – particularly high-volume services where cash is a common method of payment.