OWLSweb Home • OWLSnet Home Outagamie Waupaca Library System — Local Libraries • Better Together
Updated: July 27, 2005

Interlibrary Lender Program

Background

Member libraries, as a condition of system membership, are required to lend their materials to other member libraries (Wisconsin Statutes s. 43.24(2)(a)). In addition, OWLSnet members have agreed "to lend circulating materials listed in the OWLSnet database to other participants in OWLSnet."

OWLS has long held that member libraries should be adequately compensated for extending their services beyond their jurisdictional boundaries, including lending their materials to other libraries. Several mechanisms are in place that compensate libraries for lending their materials to other libraries, e.g., borrowing materials from other libraries, state-funded system services.

In an ideal environment, all member libraries would lend to other libraries approximately the same number of materials that they borrow from them. While this scenario is true for many OWLS libraries, some libraries are significant net lenders and other libraries are significant net borrowers. It can be argued that it is a hardship for any library to be a significant net lender because many of the library's materials are not available for use by local patrons.

Because the interlibrary loan of materials is a requirement of system membership, OWLS believes it has an obligation to address the hardships experienced by member libraries that are significant net lenders.

Procedure

In any given year, OWLS may elect to budget funds to assist member libraries experiencing hardships resulting from the interlibrary loan of materials to other OWLS or OWLSnet libraries. When OWLS budgets funds for this purpose and determines that a member library is experiencing a hardship, it shall issue the library a credit toward its annual OWLSnet membership bill.

Appleton Public Library is not eligible to participate in this program. As the resource library for OWLS, consideration for Appleton Public Library's service to other member libraries is addressed on an annual basis by the Resource Library Agreement.

  1. A hardship exists for any library that lends at least 500 items more to other libraries than it receives from other libraries, i.e., 500 net interlibrary loans. All OWLS libraries experiencing a hardship, except Appleton Public Library, are eligible for a credit under this program.
  2. Each eligible library's net interlibrary loans shall be divided by the total net interlibrary loans for all eligible libraries to determine each library's share of the total net interlibrary loans.
  3. Each eligible library's share shall be applied to the funds budget by OWLS for this purpose to determine the amount of credit it will receive.
Adopted: October 14, 1999

OWLS logoSupporting public libraries in Outagamie and Waupaca counties
© Outagamie Waupaca Library System · 225 N. Oneida Street · Appleton, WI 54911 · 920.832.6190
All rights reserved.