Museum Charges

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There's been quite a bit of controversy over here in the UK of late about
charging the public for entry into the national museums. Ostensibly, this
round of editorials has been sparked by the recent institution of mandatory
entry fees at our 'cross-the street' neighbors, the Victoria and Albert
Museum, and the fact that our former parent institution, the British
Museum, is considering the institution of mandatory charges. As for us at
the Natural History Museum, we've been charging the public entry fees for
several years now. Our current charge is 5.50 British Pounds Sterling (BPS)
for adults and 2.80 BPS for children (5-17 years). In order to ease the
burden somewhat we have various schemes for getting people in at reduced or
even no cost (e.g., membership, family, & senior citizen's discounts, free
admission during the last hour of every day). However, charge we do. Where
does the money go? While, the actual percentage is debatable, it goes at
least in part, to support the science and the scientists. Were it not for
this source of revenue, cuts would have to be made. That having been said,
the original rationale for establishing the NHM (and most natural history
museums) had to do with making the wonders of natural history and their
significance to man plain to the general public, and especially to those
who could not afford alternative sources of education.

It's obviously a Faustian bargain to charge for entry to major Museums. You
get to continue your scientific work and maintain the building and
collections in a tolerable (if not entirely adequate) manner, but you lose
a goodly proportion of your attendance and end up trying to compete with
theme parks and tourist attractions of which London (like most major
cities) already has many. So, how does the scientific community, or more
specifically the paleontological community feel about all this? Does your
local natural history museum charge for admission? Does it have plans to do
so in the near future? Have charges changed the institution in any way? Are
these charges good or bad for paleontology overall? Are there any
alternatives? What would a world in which you had to pay for access to most
types of paleontological information be like? Is that where we're heading?


Norm MacLeod



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Norman MacLeod
Micropalaeontological Research
N.MacLeod@nhm.ac.uk (E-mail)

Address: Department of Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum,
         Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD

Office Phone: 0171-938-9006
Dept. FAX: 0171-938-9277
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