[ILL-L] FW: Public libraries charging for loans

Wed Jun 25 13:55:43 EDT 2008

Thanks, Laura.  That helps! 

Heather Campbell
Special Services ~ Interlibrary Loan and Books By Mail
Jacksonville Public Library
Jacksonville, Florida 32202
ill at coj.net    904-630-2985 

-----Original Message-----
From: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Laura Barnard
Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 1:00 PM
To: Interlibrary Loan Listserv
Subject: RE: [ILL-L] FW: Public libraries charging for loans

Heather,

We don't have CLIO or ILLiad.

For Loans:
We register each library we lend to, using their OCLC symbol for 'patron
name', and add the amount they charge for a loan, if they do. For
example, JPL is registered with patron name ILL JPL and JPY is
registered as ILL JPY $20.  These are IFM libraries.  For libraries with
written reciprocal agreements outside of LVIS, an R or RCIP in the place
of the dollar value work well; also is it is a library that won't accept
IFM, INV or INVOICE works.

When we have retrieved a book for loan, we update the WRS record, in
batch for that day's checkout session, then check the item out to the
individual library's account in our Horizon system.  When we go into an
individual record and see the dollar amount, we also toggle over to WRS
and edit the request in the lending fee field to reflect the fee.

Our lender says we  lend to 25 - 40 libraries in a day and only 1 or 2
need charges.

On very rare occasions - maybe once or twice a year - we will discover
when we go to add the lending charges, that the borrowing library has
entered $0.00 in their maxcost field.  We then double check as to
whether they really would charge us (have they joined LVIS, for
example), emailing them if we need to.  If indeed, they say they will
charge us, or will charge us more than they are willing to spend on this
transaction, we tell them we have updated to shipped in error because we
don't lend to libraries who charge us but won't accept the same.  Then
we block their accounts and don't lend to them.  We have been charging
like this for almost 4 years and I think we have blocked only a couple
of libraries for this reason.

This last is the only time we contact another library about fees.  If
their maxcost is equal to or greater than their lending fee, the
transaction goes through IFM with no problems.

Photocopies:

We check the policy file of every library we send copies to, unless it
is a library the lender is familiar enough with to know they don't
charge.  This is because copy charges vary so greatly from library to
library.

One thing that helps greatly with this process is the affiliation field
on the WRS printouts; by always checking that field we manage to
eliminate look ups on the majority of copy requests.  One could use that
also when updating loan requests to shipped if one wanted to check
policy files before updating.

Also, with CLIO and ILLiad, there may be ways you can tag the records as
they appear to your lender so he/she can tell with each request in
pending status if the borrower charges or not.  I'm just not familiar
enough with how the transactions migrate into these systems to know how
that might be done.

When we started charging libraries that charge us, some quit using us as
much.  And the majority of our lending is to libraries who use us
repeatedly - regional libraries both public and academic - with whom the
lender is quite familiar.  And  most of the libraries we lend to don't
charge us. This means that significantly fewer than 50% of libraries
need any kind of checking.

Let me know if there is any additional information that might help.

Laura

>>> "Campbell, Heather" <HEATHERC at coj.net> 6/25/2008 8:20 AM >>>
Laura:
How does this work in your workflow?  Do you check the OCLC policy
statement of each library that requests from you to see what they charge
and then conditional the request for that amount? 

Heather Campbell
Special Services ~ Interlibrary Loan and Books By Mail Jacksonville
Public Library Jacksonville, Florida 32202
ill at coj.net    904-630-2985 

-----Original Message-----
From: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Laura Barnard
Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 11:13 AM
To: Interlibrary Loan Listserv
Subject: Re: [ILL-L] FW: Public libraries charging for loans

Heather,

We are a public library.  We charge those who charge us, and charge them
the same fee they would charge us. 

Laura Barnard
Interlibrary Loans
Seattle Public Library (UOK)
206-386-4601
ill at spl.org 

>>> "Campbell, Heather" <HEATHERC at coj.net> 6/25/2008 8:00 AM >>>

JPL is an LVIS library.  For years, we have been a free lender and
provider of photocopies.  I frequently fill in for absent staff members
and have noticed more and more instances where we provide free resource
sharing to libraries but these same libraries will charge us for the
same services.  We usually avoid requesting items from these libraries
but the one-sidedness of this resource sharing 'arrangement' is
frustrating.  JPL- like many other libraries in our state- is feeling
the fiscal crunch due to a changed tax structure and high fuel and
delivery costs.  I am exploring charging those who would charge us and
our customers.  We would still -of course- provide free services to LVIS
libraries as well as libraries within our regional and state networks.
And we would honor the few reciprocal lending/borrowing agreements we've
been able to get and accept new reciprocal arrangements.

Are there any other LVIS public libraries out there that charge "fee
lenders"  or non-LVIS/network libraries for loans and/or copies?  If so,
how much do you charge?

Heather Campbell, Manager
Special Services ~ Interlibrary Loan and Books By Mail Jacksonville
Public Library
303 North Laura Street
Jacksonville, Florida 32202-3505
ill at coj.net    904-630-2985 

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