[ILL-L] Average cost of providing a book through ILL

[Robinson, Arthur]

I'd certainly think that for a large university that charges, the average would be $20 a book or more, but for a smaller, LVIS library, I'd guess it would be considerably less.  I'm no authority on the costs, since I don't know how much my library pays for using Firstsearch, shipping costs, etc., which constitute the bulk of our expenses.  But I do know how much we've paid to other libraries.  Since I came here in October 1998 up through June 2008, we have obtained 7,501 items and paid other libraries a total of $1,863.94 (actually that includes about $20 we paid a journal publisher for a back issue, but I'll include it), which comes to about 25 cents per item obtained.

 

Obviously, this is only a small part of our expenses, since I haven't factored in OCLC charges for Passport/WRS, shipping, payment for lost or damaged books (actually we've only had to pay $140 for that since I came here), work time (I suspect librarians at large universities make a lot more per hour than I do, but I may be wrong), etc.  Also,my library is lucky; we save money because (a) we don't charge, which gives us a break with we-charge-what-you-charge libraries, (b) we're members of LVIS (a HUGE savings), and (c) we're members of GOLD and SOLINE/SO6, which means we're able to borrow from some larger libraries such as the University of Georgia and Emory University without paying.  Also, because we're a small college with a budget to consider, I always request from free libraries rather than libraries that charge.

 

Arthur Robinson (GLG)


________________________________

From: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org on behalf of Campbell, Heather
Sent: Fri 8/15/2008 12:32 PM
To: Interlibrary Loan Listserv
Subject: RE: [ILL-L] Average cost of providing a book through ILL



Wow-  $26.92 per borrowed item using OCLC.  I stumbled across a university whose FAQs stated the cost was around $20 per item.  I don't know if that estimate/average factored postage or courier rate hikes.  

 

Do you all think between $20-30 per borrowed item would be a good guesstimate?

 

Heather Campbell

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