Des Plaines Library opts not to pay for inter-library van service

The Des Plaines Public Library board recently agreed to opt out of a proposal calling for a $12,930 "donation" to the North Suburban Library System for retaining inter-library van delivery services through Sept. 15.

The state-funded service provided by NSLS will cease on June 14 because the state has not paid the owed grant funding necessary to keep van delivery services and NSLS operating.

Des Plaines library board trustees evaluated a proposal to participate in a three-month stopgap program developed by members of the Public Library Directors Forum.

Forty-eight of the 49 libraries in the North Suburban Library System have agreed to participate in the program through Sept. 15.

Des Plaines is the only holdout because officials said the library was being asked to donate the largest amount.

"We were the library that lent out the most materials of any of the libraries in the system,", said Heather Imhoff, Des Plaines Library spokeswoman. "We will develop a new program after Sept. 15 to get books to our patrons and figure out other ways to facilitate inter-library loan in a way that makes sense for us."

The inter-library van delivery service has made loans of materials between libraries in the area fast, easy and free. Illinois library law mandates NSLS charge no fee to libraries for the service.

Des Plaines Library board President Noreen Lake said the library already has reduced its 2010 operating budget by more than 7 percent and cannot take on this significant unbudgeted expense.

"If we participate in this program, the people of Des Plaines would be paying twice for this service - first through their Illinois state taxes and then again via the property tax allocation to the library," Lake said.

With the service being discontinued soon, as of June 1 Des Plaines library patrons cannot search for and place holds on items at other libraries from a shared database of materials used by a consortium of libraries, Imhoff said.

Yet, patrons can still request items from other libraries via alternative inter-library loan processes such as by calling or e-mailing a library or using the WorldCat loan service. Books would then arrive the old-fashioned way - by mail.

"We have to revert to a classic loan system," Imhoff said. "One of the reasons why we are so comfortable doing this is that we have everything, practically. Most of the items that our patrons request we already own so really the impact is not going to be large for our patrons."

Ninety-two percent of all items circulated at the library in April were its own, she said.

"This is an opportunity, however, for DPPL and other libraries to determine what services our patrons consider crucial and to customize programs to meet those specific needs," Library Director Sandra Norlin said.