This shouldn't surprise anyone: FamilySearch will raise the price of film loans in family history centers as of 15 February 2012. Short-term film loans used to cost $5 U.S but will now cost $7.50. Prices for short-term film loan extensions, extended film loans, and microfiche loans will also increase.
The price of raw microfilm stock has skyrocketed in recent months and now raw microfilms are almost impossible to find as the microfilm manufacturers are shutting down their production lines. FamilySearch is finding it difficult to purchase even enough raw microfilm stock to make duplicates of existing films. Of course, creating new microfilms is essentially impossible so FamilySearch has already converted to all-digital production for all new products and is converting older products to digital images as rapidly as possible.
You can find the full announcement of the price increase at https://www.familysearch.org/films/.
While not mentioned in the announcement, I am guessing that FamilySearch will be forced to stop producing microfilms completely within a very few years, perhaps within a year or two. Other organizations that traditionally have created microfilms, such as libraries, archives, and genealogy societies, will soon be forced to do the same. When the microfilm manufacturers have all shut down their production lines, where will anyone purchase new film?
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