Nonprofits will no longer get discount rates to rent meeting rooms at the Central Library. The Rochester Public Library used to charge nonprofit groups $25 an hour, but that has increased to $100 an hour, with a two-hour meeting minimum.

The minimum meeting time isn't new, but was previously only periodically enforced.

The RPL Board of Trustees approved the policy change in May, but did not implement it until July 1, to give groups time to find another meeting place, if necessary.

The old policy was confusing, inconsistent, and an administrative nightmare, says Patty Uttaro, director of the Monroe County Library System.

"It wasn't cost-effective," she says. "We were getting requests for small groups wanting to use our large rooms. And the staffing involved in cleaning and setting up for 10 people in a room that fits 128, it wasn't a good setup."

The RPL has also changed its method of invoicing. Rooms must be booked two weeks ahead, and advance payment is required. The RPL used to bill for the rooms afterward and, as a result, ended up with many unpaid invoices, often for small amounts of money.

In 2008, the RPL was stuck with about 25 unpaid invoices, Uttaro says, ranging from $12 to $700.

About a handful of nonprofits have been priced out of the rooms since the policy change, Uttaro says.

The Central Library has two large meeting rooms for rent: the Gleason Auditorium on the first floor of the Bausch & Lomb building, and a smaller space on the third floor of the Rundel building.