Restrictions apply: Georgina reinstates inter-library loan program

Program funded until end of the year

Yorkregion.com
July 15, 2019
Amanda Persico

Starting July 16, Georgina residents can request inter-library items.

After months of holding off on a program that retrieved more than 2,400 items found across the province at the request of Georgina residents, the library board reinstated the program and will fund it for the remainder of the year. 

Depending on how the final budget falls, the inter-library loans program will be funded through library reserves, said Georgina Public Library (GPL) services director and acting CEO Valerie Stevens.

“We have to base it on actual lived experience,” she added. “Right now, it’s wait and see.”

Next year, the inter-library loan program will be tacked on to the library’s budget submission to the town.

Since the lending library pays for the round-trip shipping of an item, GPL will be balancing items loaned with items borrowed.

Restrictions do apply -- Georgina residents can request up to three items a month, which includes one DVD or Blu-ray.

Items not in e-book or audiobook format will be given priority. Residents are also encouraged to seek out hard to find items at other local libraries, as GPL has a reciprocal lending agreement with all York Region and Brock Township libraries.

“If you’re driving into Newmarket for work, grab a book there instead of using the inter-library loan system,” Stevens said.

Book Club reading lists will also take advantage of the reciprocal lending agreement.

With the restrictions in place, the inter-library loan program is operating at about 30 per cent compared to previous years.

The library will be using Canada Post to loan items.

Under the new model, it costs about $1.34 to send an item anywhere in central Ontario and takes three times as long to process.

Not to mention, it will be library staff measuring, weighing items and dropping them off at the local post office.

“We’re keeping a close eye on it each week,” Stevens said. “So that way we can stay on target and correct quickly.”

Under the former Southern Ontario Library Service (SOLS) program, items were loaned in reusable canvas bags. Now, items will need to be bubble-wrapped, adding to the single-use plastics problem, Stevens added.