[Fwd: RE: Reciprocal Borrowing] - MLATrustees

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Suzanne Reymer

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More options Feb 8 2005, 6:19 pm

From: Suzanne Reymer <srey...@uswest.net>

Date: Tue, 08 Feb 2005 16:19:45 -0700

Local: Tues, Feb 8 2005 6:19 pm

Subject: [Fwd: RE: Reciprocal Borrowing]

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The second message from the ALTA list.

Adding to Mark West’s comments from another library in Illinois where
funding is provided through local property taxes:

Four years ago when I first arrived at Messenger, I discovered that we
lent all of our materials to anyone who asked for them. We had a very
small budget at the time and the few new things we could purchase would
come out of the Baker & Taylor box and be processed for an inter-library
loan or be put on the hold shelf for a reciprocal borrower. Our own
patrons thought we never bought anything, because when they requested
new materials, they were already gone. How many times I saw people
coming from much larger towns to our little library and getting first
crack at our new materials. Apparently we had some savvy library users
who didn’t want to wait for an item from their own institution and
recognized that we were allowing everything to be borrowed by anybody.
We don’t do that anymore.

For some time, our staff and trustees have been discussing the
cost/benefits of reciprocal borrowing and library usage. Our experiences
at both Messenger where I work and at the Batavia Public Library where I
am currently the treasurer is that non-residents use these libraries
because they offer more than their own for which they are unwilling to
pay. Smaller libraries to the west of our locations in Kane County have
struggled for years to pass referenda in order to build new facilities
and improve services and collections. They have failed because the
people know they can just drive down the road to a neighboring library
and essentially get more for less. I often hear from these directors
that residents come in to their library, register for a card and then
are never seen again, because they are using a better library in a
nearby town.

We are fortunate here in the western suburbs of Chicago to have so many
libraries within close proximity to one another and reciprocal borrowing
certainly has a place in the landscape of library services; however we
do our own communities and our neighboring libraries a dis-service if we
are giving services away to people unwilling to pay for them.

At the end of the day, this issue may be resolved by the tax cap placed
on publicly funded budgets. As caps continue to negatively impact
operational budgets, I think we will see trustees and directors placing
more limits on services to non-residents. At that point, maybe
non-residents will be willing to spend the money necessary to have the
services they desire.

Lynn Elam

Library Administrator

Messenger Public Library

Of North Aurora

113 Oak Street

North Aurora, IL 60542

630/896-0240 x2345

www.messengerpl.org

- Show quoted text -

-----Original Message-----

*From:* owner-alt...@ala.org [mailto:owner-alt...@ala.org] *On Behalf Of
*Christine Hage
*Sent:* Friday, January 28, 2005 6:55 AM
*To:* American Library Trustee Association List
*Subject:* [ALTA-L:861] Reciprocal Borrowing

I agree with what Mark West said in his recent post and thought I’d
explain how it works here in Michigan. Our public libraries are
essentially funded from a local level through property taxes. Some
libraries have independent millages, others are part of a county, city
or township government and may be funded out of the general funds.
Generally libraries with independent funding are better off and aren’t
impacted by state and federal funding cuts. Our state aid amounts to
less than 5% or many library budgets.

We have library cooperatives in Michigan and although the can not
require it, most support reciprocal borrowing among members. We also
have a statewide voluntary reciprocal borrowing program called MichiCard
(http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-17445_19270-52241--,00.html)
which libraries sign up for, but receive no compensation for that
participation.

Libraries have made all kinds of reciprocal borrowing arranges between
public/public, public/academic, public/school, etc., but on occasion do
not offer borrowing privileges to communities that cannot reciprocate.
My own library service area is bordered by two communities that do not
have libraries. We do not offer borrowing privileges to residents of
those communities because they have nothing to reciprocate with. When
our residents have taxed themselves for library service how can our
board give that service away free to a neighboring community?

I actually lived with this situation as a teen. My town did not support
a library and I was able to purchase a card from a neighboring library
for a few years before they cut us off. Once that library cut service to
my town, the town started its own library, which is a wonderful library
today. In a world of tightening budgets, library boards need to be able
to justify costs to the people who support that library and giving
service away for free is hard to explain.

One option that is available here in Michigan is a contract for service.
A community without a library contracts with a neighboring library for
library service. Sometimes the contracts are reviewed and renewed on a
specific cycle while other times the contract might be opened ended with
provisions of cancellation with notice.

Years ago there was a poster the said “Butterflies are free, so are
libraries”. Wrong. Libraries cost and those who pay for library service
generally aren’t willing to provide free service to non-paying
neighboring communities.

Christine Lind Hage, Director

Clinton-Macomb Public Library

40900 Romeo Plank Road

Clinton Township, MI 48038-2995

586/226-5010 voice

586/226-5008 fax

21st Century Literacies logo

http://www.christinelindhage.net <http://www.christinelindhage.net/>**

Candidate for President of the American Library Association

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--
####################
Suzanne Reymer
Statewide Technology Librarian
Montana State Library - Billings Office
c/o Parmly Billings Library
510 N. Broadway
Billings, MT 59101
Voice: 406.255.0729
Fax: 406.255.0732
MT Toll Free: 888.826.0837
Email: srey...@mtlib.org
####################

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