Horton Valerie - Moving materials physical delivery in libraries

Lori Ayre began working with libraries in 2000 after a fifteen-year career managing technology, leading projects, and designing information systems. Ayres consulting firm, the Galecia Group, has done a wide variety of work for libraries and consortia including technology consulting, systems analysis, software specifications development, and management consulting. She is currently focused on resource sharing, delivery, materials handling, and open-source applications.

Brenda Bailey-Hainer has since 2006 been president and CEO of BCR, a nonprofit membership organization that serves libraries primarily in an eleven-state region in the West. Previously she was director of networking and resource sharing at the Colorado State Library, where she created and managed statewide projects related to resource sharing, digitization, and virtual reference. Her past experience includes various positions at OCLC, CARL Corporation, and UnCover document delivery service as well as several academic libraries. At the Colorado State Library she served as interim manager of the Colorado Library Courier and served on the states courier committee. She was a co-organizer of the 2005 Moving Mountains Symposium held in Denver.

Robin Dean works in the records management and digital initiatives programs at the University of Denver. Though she spends most of her time in the digital world, Robins work at the Colorado Library Consortium taught her a healthy respect for the coordination it takes to get things to people. She received her MLIS from the University of Denver in 2008.

Ivan Gaetz is dean of libraries at Regis University, Denver. He earned his MLS in 1988 from the University of Alberta and has worked in government, theological, public, and academic libraries in Alberta, British Columbia, New York, and Colorado. His library work has focused on promoting and advancing library collaboration, and he regards document delivery systems as key to interlibrary partnerships. A member of the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries, he organized and chairs the Shared Collection Development Committee and is chair of the Colorado Academic Library Consortium (2008/9).

David Millikin earned BS and BA from Ohio State in 2000 with a double-major in transportation and logistics and operations management. He has worked in various positions at Greif, Inc., a global industrial packaging manufacturer, in its sourcing and supply chain department. In 2006 he became a certified purchasing manager. He was a product manager of library logistics at OCLC and has developed new home delivery and storage management solutions for libraries.

Jim Myers is currently head of circulation for the Orange County Library System (OCLS) in Orlando, Florida. Prior to taking charge of circulation, Jim managed the OCLS home delivery service, MAYL, for seven years. From 2004 to 2006, Jim was also the project manager for Healthy Connections, a two-year, multimedia health initiative sponsored in part by the National Library of Medicine, which won the 2006 state-level award from the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science.

Lisa Priebe joined the Colorado Library Consortium (CLiC) in 2005 as a regional consultant and has been assistant director since 2007. She was the project manager for the development of the courier management system that streamlined courier functions for participating institutions and CLiC staff. In addition to working with the courier, Lisa is responsible for managing cooperative purchases and vendor awards along with handling some of CLiCs internal operations.

Greg Pronevitz has been regional administrator of the Northeast Massachusetts Regional Library System (NMRLS) since 1998. NMRLS, one of six regional library systems in Massachusetts, serves three hundred member libraries in fifty-four communities, providing training, consulting, electronic content, and physical delivery of library materials. Prior to his appointment at NMRLS, Greg was an assistant director at OHIONET and held technical services positions at the Ohio State University, Chemical Abstracts Service, and the Center for Research Libraries.

Melissa Stockton earned her MA in library science from Texas Womans University in 1989. Since that time she has worked in several multitype consortia, an academic library, and the library vendor arena. At the Colorado Alliance, Melissa managed several library systems for a group of academic and public libraries. At Regis University; she started the Library Systems Department and also managed access services, including the ILL department. Melissa started Quipu Group in 2005 with two partners to provide programming and development services to libraries. In 2007, Quipu Group released Library2Library, a courier management system developed in partnership with the Colorado Library Consortium.

Prepared and annotated by Robin Dean

Bessant, R. 1997. Delivery of Library Materials in Wisconsin. Prepared for Division for Libraries and Community Learning, Bureau for Interlibrary Loan and Resource Sharing. Madison, WI: Department of Public Instruction.

Bessant, a consultant for the Wisconsin Division for Libraries and Community Learning, describes her process of determining the cost-effectiveness of connecting Wisconsins regional courier services to a statewide delivery network. Her article includes a comparison of weekly three-day and five-day delivery, a summary of the proposals received from different courier services, a review of the courier services offered by other states at the time, and the different network and cost-sharing models that might be considered when expanding service. She found that Northern Waters was currently better served by conducting ILL through the USPS with the rest of the state.

Burkholder, S. A. 1992. By Our Own Bootstraps: Making Document Delivery Work in Oregon. Computers in Libraries 12 (11): 1924 (special section: Document Delivery).

This article traces the development of a statewide courier system in Oregon, which grew out of the informal findings of a subcommittee and was largely a grassroots push by librarians in the state. Since this project was not supported by state or federal funds, money was a major concern. Burkholder discusses the steps taken to make the service self-sufficient, affordable, and efficient. Creative cost-splitting and integration with local courier services already in place contributed to the projects success. The summary offers a thoughtful examination of the benefits and drawbacks of creating such a simple, noncentralized, hands-off system.

Fiels, K. M., and R. P. Naylor. 1990. Delivery of Information and Materials between Libraries: The State of the Art. Proceedings of the June 1990 ASCLA Multi-LINCS Preconference. Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies. Chicago: American Library Association.

This compilation includes several speeches and presentations that focus on the development of physical delivery in Illinois, New Jersey, Washington, and Oregon. Each presentation explains how the states analyzed the needs of their geographic areas and how they selected delivery services that would fit those needs at a reasonable cost and maximum efficiency.

Gassler, R. S. 1985. Pricing for Efficiency, Equity, and Simplicity: A Model Policy for an Interlibrary Courier Service. Journal of Library Administration 6 (2): 83100.