Texas Resource Sharing:
Examining the Present, Envisioning a
Vibrant Future

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission contracted with Bibliographic Center for Research to conduct a thorough analysis of interlibrary loan and resouce sharing services in Texas.

A Final Report, released in January 2008, details the research methods used to gather background information, descriptions of potential resource sharing models along with estimated costs, benefits, and feasibility ratings, and a set of recommendations.

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission has put together an Interlibrary Loan Implementation Task Force to evaluate the models and suggest possible pilot projects. Go to the Interlibrary Loan Implementation Task Force page to view the charge, fact sheets, minutes, goals, and timeline.

Texas Resource Sharing: Examining the Present, Envisioning a
Vibrant Future- Final Report:

Introduction and Executive Summary (PDF)
Part 1- Introduction and Background  (PDF)
Part 2 - Models for Change  (PDF)
Part 3 - Recommendations  (PDF)
Part 4- Appendices  (PDF)
Appendix 1 (Excel)
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
Appendix 4
Appendix 5
Appendix 6  (Excel)
Appendix 7
Appendix 8
Appendix 9
Appendix 10
Appendix 11
Appendix 12
Appendix 13  (Excel)
Appendix 14

Comment on the Texas Interlibrary Loan and Resource Sharing Study - Final Report

Add Comments

Date: 06/02/2008
Name: Samantha Smith
Library: Hood County Public Library
Comments and Suggestions: I am the ILL librarian at HCPL. We do virtually all of our ILLs through OCLC already and don't have much of a problem doing it that way. The patrons make their requests to us, we put the request into worldcat, and do all the processing so that the patron checks out the ILL as if it were a regular checkout. It seems to work well from our point of view, despite the rise in cost of postage and packaging.

Date: 06/12/2008
Name: Information not available
Library: Information not available
Comments and Suggestions: All I can say is keep the interlibrary program it is working and everone enjoys this

Date: 06/17/2008
Name: Information not available
Library: Information not available
Comments and Suggestions: The current economy is hitting our budget hard. Any cost-sharing scenario, or shifting the entire cost of ILL to the local level, will place a huge burden on local budgets and may result in a reduction/cessation in the level of service.

Date: 06/20/2008
Name: Sue Compton
Library: Flower Mound Public Library
Comments and Suggestions: A very difficult report to digest and comment on. Many questions that need to be answered first. Of the many services libraries offer ILL seems to be one that benefits from statewide coordination. The models I've been told are being considered (Models 4-6) appear to take the state out of the mix. I'm not sure this is the best way to do this. And I'm surprised only 3 libraries have commented!

Date: 06/30/2008
Name: Beth Fox
Library: Westbank Community Library
Comments and Suggestions: I second Sue's comments that this is a very complex topic that left many questions unanswered. For the last few years, we have heard a great deal from TSL about the need to centralize library services for more efficiency. The 3 proposals left on the table do exactly the opposite. I want to reinforce the task forces’ conclusion that “cost shifting is not cost saving.” I find it unacceptable that 3 of the 6 options are apparently no longer under consideration.
According to the report, there are 26 libraries that now use OCLC cataloging. The training alone to bring 500 plus libraries up to speed on using OCLC to place requests and enter data is mindboggling. You have only to look at the database usage by the smaller public libraries to know that these are solutions that dead on arrival.
Models 3, 4 and 5 rely on a union or shared catalog based on the OCLC model. Unfortunately most public libraries do not use true Marc records. Instead they use "Marc like" records. While custom software might be written to overcome this initial problem, what will happen as each library adds and deletes items? Our library adds several hundred items a week. Our cataloger is already working at full speed. I suspect that we would have to add additional staff just to manage the OCLC records and we are probably one of the “wealthier” libraries in our size group.
The conclusion that this will be an additional burden on the circulation staff since they are already doing this with branch libraries is another poorly thought out premise. How many public libraries actually have branch libraries? Besides, preparing an item to be mailed is far more complicated than putting an item in a bin to be transported to a branch library.
There are hundreds of small Texas public libraries that operate with tiny staffs. These libraries depend heavily on interlibrary loan resources. The current options put the full burden of interlibrary loan on individual libraries that simply don't have the resources to support the service. My library, which serves a population of 25,000, would be hard pressed to come up with staff to not only manage the 1400 or more loans that we make each year but also to locate, track, package and mail 500 or 1000 (??) items to other libraries. I would be shocked if there was not a significant decline in both lending and borrowing. In other words, instead of sharing resources, Texans would have fewer resources available.
TSL has already seriously damaged the effectiveness of regional systems, and no matter how you look at these options; the effect is to dismantle interlibrary loan service as well.

Date: 07/18/2008
Name: Susan Anderson
Library: El Progreso Memorial Library
Comments and Suggestions: I agree whole-heartedly with Beth's comments. We too serve a population of 25,000. But we are a rural area and our population is spread through 3 Hill Country canyons. We have a difficult time delivering books between our 3 county libraries and rely on people who are coming in to town for shopping or a doctor's visit to pick up books and take them back to their community. The costs of mailing items to other libraries would break our already fragile budgets. We worked cooperatively to share books in our region long before there was such a thing as TexShare cards, but that was based on patrons coming to pick up the books. Delivery seems to be the biggest issue to me no matter what model is chosen.

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