The Consortium of MnPALS Libraries is a self-supporting organization. Libraries pay fees according to a funding formula, developed with input from the consortium’s Executive Committee.
Approved by the Deans/Directors/Coordinators Executive Committee
November 14, 2019
To Be Used Beginning in Fiscal Year 2021 for Academic Libraries
- A flat membership fee of $3,000.00
- A stepped membership fee based on the libraries’ Carnegie classifications of $2,000.00 per tier
- A variable FYE calculation of $3.00 per 1 full-year equivalent student
- A flat fee of $5,000.00 if there are no Alma-certified staff members at the library
State Agencies and Special Libraries will continue to use the previous formula explained below.
Approved by the Deans/Directors/Coordinators Executive Committee
September 12, 2002
To Be Used Beginning in Fiscal Year 2004
The PALS funding formula is based on three components: a membership fee, a bibliographic record charge, and a patron record charge. Some libraries may incur an additional administrative unit charge, depending on how they choose to be configured in Alma, the ILS software provided by Ex Libris. Bibliographic records and patron records were selected as the basis for the funding formula for two reasons: 1) the numbers are readily available; and 2) after analysis, the number of bibliographic records and patron records are closely related to the number of transactions, so bibliographic records and patron records do give us a way to measure relative library size and activity.
Membership Fee
The membership fee is composed of two parts. There is a flat fee that is charged to each member library. In addition, there is a tiered fee that is based on the number of bibliographic records that the library has on October 1 of the previous fiscal year. One membership fee allows the library or libraries to have one site contact the PALS staff directly. If multiple libraries join together as one member, all contact with PALS must be done through one agency. One membership fee includes the use of one administrative unit in Alma.
Bibliographic Record Charge
There is a charge per bibliographic record that the library has on October 1 of the previous fiscal year.
Patron Record Charge
The patron record charge is the larger of one half of the bibliographic record charge or a charge per patron record that the library has on October 1 of the previous fiscal year. Public libraries and K-12 school libraries will have their fees determined based on 50% of the number of patron records they have. High school library fees will be based on 75% of their patron records. These percentages will be reviewed in the Spring of 2004.
Weight of Each Fee Type
The three types of fees will contribute to the total as follows: 25% from the membership fee, 25% from the bibliographic record charge, and 50% from the patron record charge.
Administrative Unit Charge
If a member with multiple libraries chooses to have more than one administrative unit in Alma, there will be an additional charge per administrative unit greater than one. One administrative unit is included in the membership fee. In Alma, the administrative unit is used largely to provide more independence in decision making and fund accounting. Since each additional administrative unit will result in additional software license fees and more support from the PALS staff, an additional fee will be charged.
Other Charges
Charges for special services will continue to be charged separately from annual fees. Click here for the current schedule of Participant Charges.
