An expensive and underutilized library service will soon be eliminated.
The Jefferson County Library (JCL) announced that May 23 would be the last day to submit an Interlibrary Loan (ILL) request.
ILL is a system for patrons to request items which are unavailable locally to be checked out or placed on hold within the JCL’s system. ILL is used to obtain books, media or articles for patrons from libraries nationwide. These titles are often highly specialized and are often from universities.
Kate Coleman, assistant director of JCL, said ILL has been discontinued due to the price tag.
“It would cost JCL $2,646 to renew our subscription cost to the third-party platform that facilitates traditional ILL services,” Coleman said. “Factoring in the shipping cost and the fact that the process of procuring the item is also very time-consuming to our staff, each ILL we supplied last year cost us over $30 per item.”
Patrons will still be able to request books from other JCL locations. JCL branches can be found in Arnold, High Ridge, Windsor and Cedar Hill.
Coleman said JCL patrons will still have several ways to obtain materials not available at JCL locations. Coleman said the JCL is a member of a statewide consortium, Missouri Evergreen, which includes over half of Missouri’s libraries.
Patrons can request items from Missouri Evergreen and pick them up at their local branch once they are delivered. Materials ordered through Missouri Evergreen, which are a majority of the items lent to JCL, are delivered by courier, and do not come with the same expense as ILL.
Coleman said for specialized or unique items not within the Missouri Evergreen system, patrons can check with the St. Louis County Library (SLCL), with whom JCL has a reciprocal borrowing agreement.
Residents of one of the JCL districts who are JCL cardholders may obtain a SLCL library card without having to pay their non-resident fee. SLCL has access to MOBIUS, which is a consortium of libraries made mostly of academic libraries.
Coleman noted SLCL still has ILL, but those with reciprocal library cards to SLCL from JCL will not be able to request materials via their ILL system because ILL services are not part of the agreement JCL has with SLCL.
Coleman said patrons can also put in a request for JCL selectors to consider their request as an addition to the JCL library. This option is under the “Services: Request a Book We Don’t Have” menu on the JCL website.