BKB H ALA Moving Mountains

Moving MountainsExciting Trends in Library Delivery : 

Moving Mountains Exciting Trends in Library Delivery Brenda Bailey-Hainer Bibliographical Center for Research Valerie Horton Colorado Library Consortium Bruce Smith South Central Library System, WI ALA Annual Conference Washington, DC June 24, 2007

Program Sponsors: 

Program Sponsors ASCLA – Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies SLAS – State Library Agencies Section ICAN - InterLibrary Cooperation and Networking Section Physical Delivery Discussion Group RUSA – Reference and User Services Association STARS – Sharing and Transforming Access to Resources Section

A little historical background….: 

A little historical background….

Moving Mountains Symposium: 

Moving Mountains Symposium September 2006, Denver First delivery symposium in 20 years Brought together attendees from 29 states and 2 provinces Commercial carriers included Identified themes, trends, commonalities, challenges Confirmed need to continue discussion and facilitate communication

Themes: 

Themes Couriers take many forms Organized around political boundaries Bound by geographic features Shaped by funding Formed around organizational structures

Themes: 

Themes All types of organizations involved Urban and rural public libraries University and community college libraries Special libraries School libraries Non-profit cooperatives Regional library networks State library agencies

Pervasive: 

Pervasive Geographically dispersed nationwide Many shapes State focused Consortia-based Regional City/County Individual institution with branches

Current U.S. Courier Landscape: 

Current U.S. Courier Landscape Statewide penetration and/or participation option Localized availability

Trends: 

Trends Significant interest in physical delivery Volume of deliveries growing rapidly Wider exposure of library holdings online Ability for patrons to request materials through online ILL forms Circulation-based requesting systems, e.g. place holds functions in integrated library systems Increased willingness of libraries to lend CDs, DVDs, etc. Everyone concerned about decreasing delivery costs

Symposium outcomes: 

Symposium outcomes Listserv on delivery issues established – Sept 2006 Website established – released June 2007 Publication in process Contributed chapters ASCLA Publications Committee accepted concept Rethinking Resource Sharing Initiative Created Delivery Working Group – April 2007 On-going informal discussions Linking couriers into regional and/or national network Home delivery

Next thoughts: 

Next thoughts Potential for linking courier systems regionally and/or nationally Valerie Horton, CLiC Impact of high volume and innovations Bruce Smith, SCLS Home delivery Brenda Bailey-Hainer

Home Delivery: 

Home Delivery Books by Mail – old concept revived 1950s – catalogs of materials patrons could order and have delivered Rural areas in lieu of bookmobiles Delivery to homebound still widespread

Home Delivery: 

Home Delivery San Antonio Public Library 1960s - Experimental project sponsored by Council on Library Resources Report in 1970: Recommended for metropolitan libraries everywhere On time return of mailed material better than returns from walk-in patrons PR value significantly meaningful Cost of service was economically feasible and practical Average cost per book – 16.5 cents

Home Delivery: 

Home Delivery Some libraries currently offer to all patrons Orange County (FL) Polk County (FL) Contra Costa County Library (CA) Topeka and Shawnee County (KS) May charge fee (e.g. $3.00 per request) or offer free

Home Delivery: 

Home Delivery Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library Service in place for many years Customers can make selections 24/7 online Most choose to have materials delivered to their homes Consistently mentioned by users as one of most popular services

Home Delivery: 

Home Delivery Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library In 2006: Volume: 146,883 packages Cost to library: $264,272 or $1.80 per package Investments in mailing equipment and software reduced current cost to $1.52 per package even after rate hike Cost to customer: No charge Delivery method: USPS Staffing: 2 fulltime in mail room operations (have some other responsibilities as well)

Home Delivery: 

Home Delivery Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library Customers are responsible for returning items 24/7 book drop at library Book drops located throughout city and county May return by mail; most don’t Information provided by: Paul Brennan, Collections Manager, Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library

Home Delivery: 

Home Delivery Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library Benefits to library: No space needed to shelve materials while waiting for customer pick-up No staff time organizing materials for pick-up or notifying customers Cheaper than building and maintaining local branches Benefits to customer: Convenience of home delivery Convenience of drop boxes throughout city/county for returns Saves gasoline $$ by not driving to library

Home Delivery: 

Home Delivery OCLC home delivery pilot in Montana Kicked off May 23, 2007 Purpose is to determine if and how people will use home delivery Using US postal service OCLC funding by providing postage machines and postage Pilot will last until funding is depleted

Home Delivery: 

Home Delivery OCLC Montana pilot participants Liberty County (Chester) Havre Hill County Missoula Public Library Miles Community College Library Miles City Public Library Whitehall Community Library Drummond School Community Library Dillon City Library Hearst Free Library Polson City Library Glendive Public Library Bitterroot Public Library

Home Delivery: 

Home Delivery OCLC Montana pilot Patrons can request materials using two different methods 1) by placing requests in their OPAC 2) by placing ILL requests through WorldCat Resource Sharing Over 200 requests during the first month Patron feedback has been positive Information provided by Cheryl Snowden and Jennifer Pearson, OCLC

Home Delivery: 

Home Delivery Rethinking Resource Sharing – Delivery Working Group Discussing nationally branded home delivery pilots Open to any library Self-funded Nationally branded but independent pilots Tentative name: YourLibrary@Home

Looking forward….: 

Looking forward….

Physical Delivery Resources: 

Physical Delivery Resources Moving Mountains website www.clicweb.org/movingmountains Blog, listserv, clearinghouse of best practices Considering another symposium in 2008 or 2009

Slide25: 

Physical Delivery Resources: 

Physical Delivery Resources ALA ASCLA ICAN Physical Delivery Discussion Group created Discussion session at ALA midwinter

Physical Delivery Resources: 

Physical Delivery Resources Rethinking Resource Sharing Initiative Ad hoc group that advocates for a complete rethink of the way libraries conduct resource sharing Delivery Working Group established Contract between BCR and Velocity Express will allow experimentation with innovations in delivery www.RethinkingResourceSharing.org

Moving Mountains: 

Moving Mountains Brenda Bailey-Hainer Bibliographical Center for Research bbailey@bcr.org Valerie Horton Colorado Library Consortium vhorton@clicweb.org Bruce Smith South Central Library System, WI bsmith@scls.lib.wi.us