LISNews: Librarian Blog Since 1999

From Yale: If the roughly 12.5 million volumes in Yale's libraries weren't enough for Yale students, they will now have access to 17 million more thanks to the Harvard Library. The decision comes nearly 10 years after the rest of the Ivy League began participating in the interlibrary sharing system Borrow Direct.

Harvard is the last Ivy League college to take part in the program, which allows students and staff to request volumes from other schools' libraries. There are more than 45 million volumes currently in the system.

Some, like professor of German art and culture Jeffrey F. Hamburger '79 GRD '87, who chaired a Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences library advisory committee, told the Crimson that the university had concerns its library would be a net lender rather than a borrower.

"That said, there are areas in which other libraries have stronger collections than we do, and I think time will tell whether it’s the right decision," he added.

Republican-American LITCHFIELD — Residents of Bantam CT no longer have to visit Oliver Wolcott Library to grab a book, an audio book, or a DVD. Now they can do it at Bantam's Big Value Supermarket.

The library, using two grants totaling $36,500, has installed a vending machine anyone with a library card can use to check out materials. Known as the OWL Box, it's the first machine of its kind in the state, according to Oliver Wolcott Library's director, Anne Marie White. See comment below for information about the Brodart vending machine.

"We wanted to reach out to the people in Bantam and others in that area who can't always get to the center of town," White said. "Providing greater access to our materials is a goal, and we thought Big Value would be an ideal place to do it." From the library in Litchfield to the store in Bantam is about 3.5 miles.

Story from the NYTimes about a $2.3 million dollar sorting machine that does the work that nobody wanted to do previously...sorting books to send from one branch to another.

Salvatore Magaddino, who oversees the library system’s distribution of materials did not know that such a machine existed until a colleague pointed out one that was featured in a YouTube video.

Article features photos and a video of the machine at work.

What’s happening?
The number of items that a customer may reserve will be reduced from the current limit of 10 to 5.

Why?
Over the last year, the amount of holds transferred between branch libraries has jumped by nearly 50%. While the success and popularity of this service is appreciated by the Austin Public Library, this increase in workload has not been matched by an increase in staff or vehicles, resulting in a negative impact on the services we offer. Branch staff is unable to process all of the items requested in a timely fashion, resulting in a backlog of and extended wait times for requested items.