Three IL Libraries Test Home Delivery Service

-- Library Journal, 02/09/2006

Three Illinois libraries—Arlington Heights Memorial Library, Skokie Public Library, and Indian Trails Public Library, Wheeling—have taken a page from Netflix and begun testing home delivery of materials in a six-month pilot project funded by a $50,000 Library Services and Technology Act grant. Each library will charge $4 per item for the Library Express service, which began February 1, but each is using a different service: the U.S. Postal Service, a courier service, and UPS. The grant funds cover the cost of e-commerce software, publicity, and free coupons to encourage use of the delivery service. Skokie director Carolyn Anthony said the service fee comes close to covering costs (excluding labor). Each location has 24-hour drop boxes, and patrons responding to web site surveys indicated that "return methodology is not an issue," said Anthony. The Orange County Library System, Orlando, has for more than a decade offered free delivery of library materials, the total cost of which the library says is less expensive than adding a branch.