Two Nice Things That Happened Recently

All the negativity that's heaving and gasping around us sometimes overshadows the simplest and nicest things.

A couple of days ago a patron called to see if he could renew his interlibrary loan. It was due in just two days, and I didn't know if the lending library would be able to respond that quickly. He was upset and didn't want to "ruin his reputation" with the library, because he was so impressed with the ILL service we offered. "This is what makes America great!" he exclaimed in a foreign accent I could not identify.

Today a young-sounding gentleman called looking for the old 1950's sci-fi movie, "The Fly" which starred the great Vincent Price and David Hedison. We did not have the DVD in our system and since we do not ILL media at all, I checked Amazon, finding out that he could either view the old movie online for a small fee, download it and watch it (not sure how that works), or buy it, along with "The Return of the Fly" for about $15.00.

He was extremely happy to hear that. Of course I don't know why he wanted to watch this particular movie, nor does it matter but it seemed important to him. I was glad I thought of Amazon's Video on Demand, where I have watched a few films. In addition, if you're a Netflix subscriber, there are hundreds of not thousands of movies available to watchfor free online.

Technology is a burden sometimes but there is a huge positive side to it, making so many things available for little or no cost. As a movie buff, I'm thrilled to have so many options, particularly at night when I can't sleep or if I'm feeling a little blah, a movie can pick me right up.

I loved the reaction of the ILL patron, who thought that ILL service was just great. Many people are astonished to learn that libraries across the country and indeed, many around the world, are willing to lend their materials outside their own systems. Recently, we received transcripts of some interviews of President Eisenhower from the Eisenhower library in Kansas. No problem! They were even willing for the patron to take the materials outside the library.

Interlibrary loan is a fundamental service in almost all libraries. ILL service is interesting and challenging to me, although our operation is very small. We process about 200 loans a month and lend our materials about half that many times. We are able to obtain microfilm of old newspapers (very popular with genealogists), out of print fiction, research materials, magazine articles. It's that great cooperative spirit of libraries that I love, and that so very many people are either unaware of, or - the flip side - take tremendous advantage of.

National Library Week is just around the corner. Use your library!