Letter to the editor – Inter-library loans

Dear Editor,

As a regular borrower of books from the North Grenville Library and an occasional borrower of books through the inter-library loan program, I was very disappointed at the Ford government’s cutbacks which are resulting in the cancellation of inter-library loans.

As inter-library borrowing is an additional service to the clients of the library, would it not make sense to retain the service but charge a fee to cover the additional costs. I am assuming that the system is computerized which, one would think, makes it a fairly simple process of search, find, and sending the book to the requesting library and then returning it at the end of the loan period. Costs would include staff time and the messenger service.

How difficult could it be to calculate the usage and cost of inter-library loans during the past year or two to determine the cost recovery fee. Perhaps I over-simplify or there is some rule that prevents charging a fee for extra service, but I believe that most of us who use the library for personal reading or research would happily pay a fee.

Shirley Price