Our local library is part of a state-wide library system. If they don’t have the book you want, they’ll get it from another community’s library which could be like 200 miles away. Wait. What? Do I need this kind of service? Do I need a $22 book sent here from some other corner of the state? It’s gonna cost the library more to clean and transport that book than it would for them to go out and buy it. Sure, shipping the book 200 miles saves me money. But you and I are paying for it through the library tax (and that levy always passes).
I would like to propose the following: Keep the statewide shipping. But the borrower pays the shipping expense. Maybe half of that amount could be refunded when/if the book is returned on a timely basis. A while ago I wrote about our library’s vast assortment of cake pans we can borrow. Let’s hope those are not being shipped around the state (at no charge).
No comments:
Post a Comment