Voted with sadness by WMRLS Executive Board

October 20, 2009

The supplemental collection and bookmobile service have been underfunded for nearly a decade.  Lack of money for new materials and the gradual dismantling of the technical services department by attrition have had a significant negative impact on the acquisition and processing of new materials.  Bookmobile service has been eliminated to many small libraries over the past 5 years because Delivery Service has expanded and required most of the scheduled hours of our eight staff members who drive. The current threat of huge cuts to the regional budget and consolidation of regional offices is the final straw; bookmobile service is no longer possible at an acceptable level of quality and reliability.

Therefore we propose that:

• Bookmobile Service will be discontinued by December 31, 2009
• The prepaid standing orders for large print and audio books on CD will continue through June 2010
• Technical services and processing of new materials (gifts and standing orders) will continue to be done by staff now pitching in to do it, or with a trained volunteer
• Deposits of those materials that WMRLS is still acquiring (large print and books on CD) will continue to be selected and sent out by delivery truck to libraries that request them, through June 30, 2010 at least
• Visits by appointment to select materials will continue through June 30, 2010
• Materials remaining in the collection will continue to fill holds

Regarding the retrieval of bookmobile materials that are out at libraries now:

• As possible WMRLS will send a truck out for retrieval only, starting in January
• Returns of smaller numbers of items can be sent back to us by delivery
• Requests from librarians to keep parts of their bookmobile collection will be considered
• Bookmobile stops scheduled for November and December 2009 may also serve for returning the collection only---at the member librarian’s discretion

By July 2010, we will discharge and drop from our catalog all long overdue materials still charged to member libraries’ bookmobile accounts.

The continuation of a supplemental collection after June 2010 will depend on how regional services and consolidations proceed.  There will be a departmental focus between now and June 30 on weeding and disposal of the old existing collection as well as defining the best ways to share the viable segments of the collection.