I'm forwarding a couple of recent postings from the American Library
Trustee Association list on reciprocal borrowing which I think may be of
interest to Montana trustees.  We're about to enter into discussions
about interlibrary loan in our state and I'd be interested to hear how
some of you view reciprocal borrowing with neighboring library users
and/or loans to other libraries.  Who do you think wins and loses?  How
can we make it work better?

Suzanne

Let me start by saying that I believe that local public libraries should be governed on the basis of "enlightened self-interest". That is to say, decisions should be made on the basis of the best interest of the taxpayers who foot the bills.

Applying my enlightened self-interest philosophy to reciprocal borrowing in general, it makes sense to offer services to residents of neighboring communities when the libraries in those communities provide comparable services to my own residents in return. If, however, a neighboring library cannot--or will not--provide comparable services to my residents, then the enlightened self-interest principle suggests that I should not provide services to the residents of those communities. A library that has been "decertified" in all likelihood is not providing services comparable to those of a certified library.

On a more practical level, the only way that the decertified library is going to get the resources it needs is for its residents to apply political pressure on the funding authority. If you, as a "good neighbor" were to continue offering services to your neighbors, you would likely reduce whatever sense of urgency they might feel regarding the issue and, as a result, reduce the level of the political pressure they might bring to bear on their elected officials.

Finally, I think your "leaky financial boat" observation is a key issue in this case. Here in Illinois, although we do not have universal public library service, areas with tax-support public libraries have a dedicated public library property tax. The dedicated tax reduces the opportunities local politicians have to muddle in library-finance decisions. While the system is not perfect--many of our libraries are stuggling with a tax-cap issue at the moment--it certainly beats having to bid against other governmental agencies for scarce resources each year. While working at the state level to assure adequate funding for all public libraries is a monumental task, it may, in the long term, be the best strategy for eliminating the type of situation you describe.

Mark West, Deputy Director
Naperville Public Library