Post #4143165

@stevewfolds@mastodon.world @ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org @CliffsEsport@mastodon.social @jbaggs@infosec.exchange In many cases inter-library loan is free, but it's up to the owning library. I do genealogy and family history, and many public libraries that have those collections do not do ILL of those items - many are small run private press books, or century-plus old, both of which are pretty much irreplaceable if the Post Awful mutilates them during transit. And USPS is planning to cancel the library media post rate, again ... UPS and FedEx would cost more, and library budgets can't take the hit of not passing those fees on to the person requesting the loan of the item. Then again, many states have state-wide online catalogs - Georgia's is PINES - and regularly-scheduled courier service to move requested books between libraries. (Still not those "library use only" items though.)