During the past several months, patrons of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library system may have noticed delays in receiving books they requested from other libraries in the state.
The exchange system among Ohio public libraries hit another snag recently when state officials terminated their contract with the company hired to coordinate the transit service.
Librarians across the state have been frustrated since last fall by delays in receiving books and DVDs, missing and lost materials and waterdamaged items.
“Slow delivery has been an issue for our customers during this year,” said Terri Carroll, director of communications, innovation and strategy. “At this time, we have around 500 items in transit over 30 days. These are items our customers are waiting for.”
She noted that normal delivery time for most items is five to seven days.
The Ohio Department of Administrative Services asked STAT Courier, based in Lake St. Louis, Missouri, to stop its service on April 15, according to Marsha McDevitt-Stredney, public information officer for the State Library of Ohio.
STAT Courier will use the remaining weeks to catch up on thousands of requests and return materials that are “in transit.” No new statewide requests will be processed until then.
A press release from the State Library of Ohio acknowledged “the delivery service has been challenging for both libraries and their patrons. We are making this change because we believe this is the best way to get back to expected service levels.”
Public libraries annually pay between $3,549 and $8,872 for the service, depending on the number of delivery visits per week, along with a 5 percent fuel surcharge.
Another company–that previously operated the transit service from 2012 to 2021–will resume in April.
Slower than normal delivery times are still expected through May.
To alleviate the situation in the meantime, the library is directing customers toward its online collection via Libby and Hoopla for print and audiobooks.
“Many of our search requests are for DVDs,” Ms. Carroll explained. “We offer streaming services through Hoopla and Kanopy for movies, and we are making decisions to purchase more titles rather than borrow from other libraries.”
The library also is continuing delivery service between its 20 branch locations. “This situation is for one month, and we are not setting up a separate delivery service for this brief time,” she added.
Ms. Carroll believes any outstanding items will be returned to the county system. “In the past, most items in transit over 30 days were recovered.”
