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Updated: August 30, 2005

Intersystem Nonresident Service Program

Background

Member libraries, as a condition of system membership, are required to extend their services beyond their municipal boundaries to serve nonresidents at no direct charge. OWLS libraries provide three main categories of nonresident service:

  1. service to system residents living outside of communities with libraries, i.e., countywide service,
  2. service to residents of cities and villages within the system that support their own libraries, i.e., intermunicipal or "crossover service," and
  3. service to residents of other library systems, i.e., intersystem service.

OWLS believes that member libraries should be adequately compensated for providing services to nonresidents. A variety of mechanisms are in place for compensating member libraries for different categories of nonresident service, e.g., monetary reimbursement from member counties and other systems, access to other libraries for local residents, and state-funded system services.

OWLS believes it is the responsibility of the counties to provide adequate compensation to municipal libraries for providing service to county residents living outside of cities and villages with libraries. OWLS, on behalf of municipal libraries, works with Outagamie and Waupaca Counties to achieve appropriate levels of financial support for the municipal libraries.

Access for local residents to neighboring libraries and state-funded system services are considered to be compensation to member libraries for providing intermunicipal service. Access for local residents to public libraries in other library systems and payments by other systems are considered to be compensation to member libraries for providing intersystem service.

Although OWLS attempts to see that member libraries are fairly compensated for providing intersystem services, there may be situations where the provision of intersystem service creates a hardship for a member library. Because intersystem agreements are in place with contiguous library systems that define the terms and conditions for extending services, member libraries should not attempt to resolve any intersystem inequities resulting from these agreements at the local level. Problems or concerns that local libraries may have in serving residents of these systems should be directed to OWLS. It is OWLS responsibility to provide any financial consideration to the affected member library.

Methodology

In any given year, OWLS may elect to budget funds to assist libraries experiencing hardships resulting from the provision of system-required service to residents of other library systems. 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.

  1. A hardship exists for any library providing more than fifteen percent (15%) of its annual circulation to residents of other library systems and that does not receive any compensation from other library systems for providing such service.
  2. For a library with a hardship, its hardship threshold (15% of its total circulation) shall be subtracted from its total intersystem circulation to determine the library's creditable intersystem circulation.
  3. The library's creditable intersystem circulation shall be divided by the total creditable intersystem circulation to determine the library's share of total creditable intersystem circulation.
  4. The resulting share shall be applied to the funds budgeted by OWLS for this purpose to determine the amount to be subtracted from the library's annual OWLSnet membership bill.
Adopted: September 19, 1996
Revised: August 18, 2005

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