The North Grenville Public Library no longer offers interlibrary loan service. The province announced funding cuts to the Southern Ontario Library Service (SOLS) and Ontario Library Service-North. Both agencies will see a 50 per cent reduction in funding.
SOLS provided a shared database that all libraries could access and a delivery service for resources, including books and DVD’s. SOLS also facilitated group purchasing for things like e-books.
Library CEO Rachel Brown says the loss of interlibrary loan service will impact local patrons and book clubs. She says the library will no longer be able to, at least for the immediate future, support book clubs. Brown says it will be a challenge for them because if you’ve got 12 people all reading the same book, some may be able to afford to buy it and others may not.
She says there’s only so much the library can do, in terms of space and budget for books. She says the interlibrary loan service was like having a huge collection across the province. Â
Brown says libraries will have to look at new ways to share resources, possibly through the mail.