Tacoma, Pierce County Libraries Formalize Reciprocal Borrowing
Successful one-year trial presented few glitches
Lynn Blumenstein -- Library Journal, 11/20/2009
- Traffic patterns make reciprocity logical
- Reciprocal borrowing doesn't strain either system
- Redirected returns are minimal, hassle-free
Pierce County Library System (PCLS), East Tacoma, WA, and the Tacoma Public Library (TPL) have institutionalized their reciprocal borrowing agreement after a successful one-year trial, allowing patrons of either system to freely borrow materials from the other.
Geographically speaking, the agreement makes sense, as the TPL’s ten locations are surrounded by 17 PCLS facilities and the region’s driving patterns carry patrons to and from the two service areas.
The pilot, just completed, proved to be "no burden on either system," PCLS spokesperson Mary Getchell told LJ. "It was very seamless, with no customer frustration."
Reciprocity comes cheap
PCLS kept track of revenue changes but found them negligible. (There was some loss of funds from cards previously purchased outside of the libraries’ service areas and the cost of resources to return books to appropriate libraries.)
That’s because Tacoma residents, while comprising about 20 percent of the county’s population, only represent a small fraction of PCLS’s circulation: 200,000 items checked out. PCLS serves 554,000 residents in unincorporated Pierce County and 15 annexed cities and towns and offers 1.3 million items.
Returns required
Patrons have to apply for a new library card and return items to the system from which they were borrowed, but a small number of patrons dropped off materials to wherever was most convenient, said Getchell, including the 18 PCLS external book drops. (People even did this before the official agreement.)
However, PCLS drivers simply returned them to TPL drops as they went on their usual routes, "as they passed by those TPL locations anyway," said Getchell.
Tacoma weighs in
TPL’s additional costs and redirected returns are minimal as well, spokesperson David Domkoski told LJ, who noted that they’re "few enough so that we’re not concerned."
Domkoski isn’t worried about parity of activity. "The numbers aren’t the spirit [of the program]," he said. During the pilot program, 5,765 PCLS residents got TPL cards and checked out nearly 143,000 items.
TPL also offers reciprocal borrowing with the King County Library System, Issaquah, which borders north east Tacoma.TPL serves approximately 201,700 residents in the city of Tacoma, with a collection of 917,000 items.
