Interlibrary lending services by van delivery will restart in Maine at the beginning of September, ending a disruption that has affected libraries statewide since early summer, according to Maine State Librarian Lori Fisher.
Interlibrary lending will available to patrons again from Tuesday, Sep. 3, Fisher said.
The news was greeted heartily by libraries and patrons across Lincoln County, who said the interruption had put a damper on their summer of reading.
“If you haven’t heard yet, (interlibrary loans) are coming back! It has been too long for us to be without (interlibrary loans),” Skidompha Library Director Matthew Graff said in an email on Tuesday, Aug. 20. “We cannot wait to start up again and share and borrow resources from collections around the country. Thank you to everyone for their good-natured patience, we have the best patrons!”
Staff at the Wiscasset Public Library were similarly delighted about the return of interlibrary lending, according to an email from Director Pamela Dunning.
“We, the staff at the Wiscasset Public Library, are delighted that we will be able to serve our patrons in this capacity again,” she said.
The announcement comes at the conclusion of an appeal process initiated by a prospective van delivery service provider whose bid was not accepted. The Maine Division of Procurement Services, which facilitates purchasing decisions and contracts with vendors who provide services to the state, granted a stay and appeal to that bidder on May 17, according to information provided by the Maine State Library.
The appeal was denied in early July, clearing Maine State Library to continue negotiating its contract with the new vendor, STAT Courier, which serves multiple states and is based in St. Louis, Miss.
STAT Courier is replacing previous vendor Freedom Xpress, which also bid on the contract.
However, with the appeal denied and the contract signed by both parties in early August, STAT Courier is now cleared to spend the days leading up to the resumption of service checking equipment, testing routes, and meeting with Maine State Library staff to ease the transition between vendors, Fisher said.
When the interruption was first announced, Lincoln County librarians were dismayed at its timing. The interruption halted service in mid-June before delivery officially ended on July 1 to coincide with the beginning of a new fiscal year.
This is also the time of year when libraries in Lincoln County are gearing up to serve an influx of summer residents and children on summer break, local librarians said.
“The timing is awful … it’s very disruptive,” Graff said at the time.
Librarians were also apprehensive about the news that, under the new contract, the Maine State Library would no longer offer one free day of van delivery each week to participating libraries, something they had offered under the previous vendor.
Instead, according to a FAQ released by the Maine State Library, the free day will be replaced by a “partially subsidized” day of van service.
The Maine State Library also stated that the selected vendor, STAT Courier, had experience providing van delivery to 16 other library systems in other states.
In a press release, Fisher said that with STAT Courier’s contract now negotiated and approved, service would begin in time for the beginning of the school year.
“We are thrilled to be able to get the statewide library delivery service, and interlibrary loan via this service, back up and running just as the new academic and school years are starting,” Fisher said.
She also acknowledged the significant response from the Maine public.
“We heard from many Maine residents who were impacted by the disruption in service, which underscores the need for information and resource sharing statewide,” she said.
The official start date of the van service from STAT Courier is Aug. 26, but libraries will not be resuming interlibrary lending until the following week, Fisher said.
“There is much to do in preparation, so please we cannot begin fulfilling any patron ILL requests until after Labor Day,” Graff said.
Graff also said that the existing delivery schedule might change, and that Skidompha did not expect to have its delivery dates confirmed until Friday, Aug. 23 or later.
When interlibrary lending is available once again, libraries have been instructed to limit their patrons to three interlibrary loan requests per person at a time. Fisher said this restriction was intended to avoid the new service provider becoming overwhelmed during the transition.
“I know (Maine State Library) is working hard to ensure the smoothest transition possible, but this is a large, complicated project, and we are bound to encounter some bumps along the way,” Graff said. “Thank you in advance for your patience.”
