Friday, June 12, 2009

Interlibrary Loan – More than Minuteman


Have you ever had the following experience? You read an interesting book or hear an interesting program on radio or television. There is a reference given to a particular book. The next time you are at the Wellesley Free Library, you check the computerized catalog only to find that no library in the Minuteman Library Network owns the book you would like to read. You turn away in the disappointment and go home frustrated. This does not need to be. Instead, go to the reference desk and fill out an Interlibrary Loan request form. Your request will be handed on to the Wellesley Interlibrary Loan office along with over 9,200 other requests from all over the Metrowest Region.

Since July 2008 Interlibrary Loan has received over 9,200 borrowing requests and has filled 87% or over 8,000 requests. We service all 41 Minuteman libraries and the entire Metrowest Region. Libraries such as the one at the Caritas Norwood Hospital, Sherborn Public Library, and the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis are just a few of the non-Minuteman libraries we regularly service.

Our Wellesley patrons have borrowed items on crafts and hobbies, medical topics, business topics and topics in art and music. We are also perfectly happy to try to get fiction not available within Minuteman. We have borrowed from every state in the Union and most of the Canadian provinces. Our office also handles a lending operation, sending items owned by Wellesley and the other Minuteman libraries all over the country. We loaned out over 5,200 so far this fiscal year.

In these tough economic times more people use their local libraries increasing the demand on limited budgets. Interlibrary Loan does its best to maximize every dollar spent to provide a great service for our Metrowest patrons. We cannot get every item we’re asked for but we try our best.

Every Minuteman member library has access to our office through your local reference department. Whether you live in Franklin or Framingham, Dedham or Weston, Cambridge or Waltham we’re here to serve you. If there is an item you want that Minuteman doesn’t own ask the reference department to submit a request with Interlibrary Loan.

JR

No comments: