Delivery of Library Materials to Schools

http://www.westervillelibrary.org/library-link
http://www.deschuteslibrary.org/using/librarylinx.aspx
http://www.mylibrarynyc.org/

I've actually talked with Meredith Fletcher, who coordinates Westerville Library's Library Link program, mentioned above, and used some information from her for budget estimates and other considerations. However, her library operates in a much smaller community (about 16,000 students). They deliver to 27 public and private schools on a daily basis and have done so for the last 12 years, averaging about 700 items per week. I asked her about the process they use and here's what she said: "Our patron’s request materials through our website and select their school as the pick-up location. Our Pages receive the hold requests and pull the items for us. They put all of the patron requests into a bin and we collect them in the morning. We check out the materials and organize them by student and school, bundling them appropriately. We then deliver to each school and collect returns as we go. Each school is a little different based on how they want things to be set up in their building. Some we drop off in the office, others- the library. We have different procedures for holidays, always picking up till the last possible day, but turning off the ability to request holds about a week before kids are out, for shorter breaks we do not change the routine. At the end of the day we check in all of our returns and organize them in circulation to be shelved." She says both kids and teachers find it to be an invaluable service.