Postal Rate Commission Asks for
Modest Library-Rate Increase
The U.S. Postal Rate Commission has recommended a modest increase in the library rate that would boost the cost of mailing a one-pound package by one cent to $1.13. Although the independent commission granted about one-third of the U.S. Postal Service's total $2.4-billion request for rate hikes, it greatly reduced USPS's proposal for the library rate.
Under the PRC recommendations, a typical three-pound library-rate package would cost $2.03; the cost of mailing the same package would have risen to $2.48 (a 26.53% increase) under the USPS proposal. Currently, it costs $1.96 to mail a three-pound package.
The increases must be approved by the Postal Service Board of Governors at its June meeting, when the board will also decide when they will take effect. ALA, as part of the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers, challenged USPS's proposed increases.
Posted May 18, 1998.
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