But here is something from Idaho that I thought might be of interest to public librarians in Ohio.  It is about their Statewide Resource Sharing system: LiLI Express, Libraries Linking Idaho.

I always say that our job is to get the books (and library material in general) into the hands of those who want or need them.  John Hartung, director of the Hayden Branch of the Kootenai-Shoshone Library District has certainly taken that to heart.  As he says, “Conceivably, if you are a visitor from another country or state, you can borrow from the Hartung Branch Library.”

Jo
***********************************
Jo Budler, State Librarian

Article from the Idaho Commission for Libraries’ The Nexus Vol. 1, No. 1 Nov./Dec. 2008 page 5

Cooperation among Idaho libraries continues to grow

Every week Kimberly Librarian Helen McCord helps a Gooding library client with her book needs, even though Gooding is some 40 miles and three library districts away.

And that client didn’t even have to get a Kimberly Public Library card.  Instead, the book hound from Gooding has borrowing privileges in any of 64 cooperating Idaho libraries, including Kimberly and Gooding.  They are all part of a reciprocal borrowing service called LiLI (Libraries Linking Idaho) Express.

“This woman works in Twin Falls, and on her lunch breaks she slips over to Kimberly (three miles away) and stocks up on books,” McCord said.  “This works for her because she’s seldom in Gooding when the Gooding library is open.”

Gina Persichini, networking consultant for the Idaho Commission for Libraries (ICFL), coordinates LiLI Express.

“Unlike Interlibrary Loan, you just go get the book yourself,” Persichini said. “It’s faster, since you don’t have to wait two or three days to get the book, and there is no borrowing fee.”

She added, “For the library, there really is very little risk. What are the chances that someone from another library district is going to come in a check out all of your books? It is the rare person who takes advantage of the system.”

John Hartung, director of the Hayden branch of the Kootenai-Shoshone Library District, can attest to that.

“We’ve been doing cooperative sharing of resources for a very long time, so joining LiLI Express wasn’t that big of deal,” he said. “We are happy to do this because we think it is the way we should go.”

But in addition, Hartung actually takes the idea of honoring library cards from other libraries way beyond what LiLI Express asks Idaho librarians to do. Hartung’s library staff will actually accept a library card from any place in the world. Conceivably, if you are a visitor from another country or state, you may borrow from the Hayden Branch Library.

“This has never been a problem for us,” Hartung said. “We have had far worse losses from local patrons. I think part of that is these guests are so grateful to use the library.”

Persichini said the program, which started with 34 libraries in January of 2004, has shown strong sustained growth since its inception. Just during this past 10 months, 10 more libraries have joined. Most are in eastern Idaho.

Madison Library District Director Judy Dewey said she put out an e-mail a few months back to several librarians in the eastern-Idaho region, asking them to join LiLI Express.

She said part of her reasoning had to do with so many people in a roughly 70-mile radius of Rexburg having to travel there to shop.

“It really is so much cheaper and faster than Interlibrary Loan,” Dewey said.

In just the two-and-a-half months since Madison Library District joined, Dewey said she has 77 library clients signed up.

One of the librarians from eastern Idaho who jumped on the LiLI Express is Carla Sherman, director for the Valley of the Tetons in Victor, 65 miles from Rexburg. Her motivation in joining was to better serve the vast majority of her local population that travels elsewhere to work during the day. Residents commute to Jackson Hole, Wyo., Rexburg or Idaho Falls. Sherman already had a reciprocal interstate borrowing arrangement with the library in Jackson Hole, so now LiLI Express allows her to extend her services to residents traveling the opposite direction.

Sherman hasn’t marketed the program yet, but “I think once people find out we have this service, they will be using the local libraries a lot more.”