Library Network Connects Library Users Across the Nation

A library customer in Central Minnesota just checked out a book from a library in Hillsboro, Oregon. And actually, that’s not so strange.

Every day, books, DVDs, and CDs are delivered to Central Minnesota’s library users from other parts of the country. Some of them are books with obscure titles, such as “Elastic & Inelastic Stress Analysis” which came from California, but others are less so, like the CD of Dance Divas II that came from Missouri.

Last year, Great River Regional Library (GRRL) customers borrowed 12,912 items from libraries outside of Central Minnesota, and 2,042 of those items came from out-of-state.

All 910,000 items owned by GRRL are listed on the library’s catalog. Books, DVDs and other materials move around the 32 libraries within the system according to where they are requested.

Staff in the GRRL interlibrary loan (ILL) office oversee the exchange of items with libraries outside the system. Most of that activity is with other libraries within Minnesota. GRRL customers borrowed 10,870 items from other Minnesota libraries last year.

“Many of the ILL loans within the state are placed by library patrons themselves through MnLINK,” (LINK) said Mic Golden, GRRL’s Collection Development Coordinator. MnLINK is a database that includes the library collections of most of Minnesota’s public and academic libraries. Library cardholders can access and search the database through the Online Resources page at www.griver.org. By entering their library card number, they can place requests directly.

When items are not available through either GRRL or through MnLINK, the ILL staff search www.worldcat.org, the website of the Online Computer Library Center, which is the world’s largest catalog of library catalogs. Once they’ve tracked an item down, they contact the owning library to arrange a loan.

“There are several reasons why we may not purchase something for our collection” Golden said. “The main one is, it’s too expensive to justify the use it will receive, or it may be too obscure, or just old and unavailable for purchase. But if it’s available from another library, in or out of the state, we’ll try to get it for our borrowers.”

GRRL isn’t just a borrower. It’s also a lender. In 2008, the system loaned 19,147 items to other libraries within Minnesota, and 3,097 items to libraries out-of-state. “We are a net lender,” Golden said. A large percentage of the items that are loaned to other libraries are non-fiction books and media items. “We have a terrific media collection. Many of our smaller libraries are in communities that don’t have record stores or even video rental stores, so we have developed collections to meet their needs,” Golden said.

GRRL’s library materials are only available to other library systems if they are not being borrowed or have not been reserved by GRRL users.