This section is for your library’s procedures for day-to-day operations, reporting on its collections, and performing interlibrary loan (ILL) functions.
ILL is the process whereby one library borrows materials from another, unaffiliated library. This form of resource sharing depends on the maintenance of union catalogs. The largest interlibrary loan network in the world is maintained by OCLC, which uses the WorldCat database as its union catalog. The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) of the American Library Association (ALA) has developed an Interlibrary Loan Code for the United States.
- Step-by-step processes/checklists for opening and closing the library, placing a hold, making an ILL request, checking materials in and out, generating overdue notices, maintaining computers, ordering library materials and supplies, and all the routine day-to-day tasks that the new (or interim) director will be performing. Input from all library staff should be encouraged in the creation of these procedural cheat sheets.
Note: Library policy is set by the library’s board in an open meeting. Procedures for implementing board policy are created by the library’s director and staff. One of the rare instances where procedure is mentioned in library policy is the procedure for dealing with challenges to library materials, which is often the last section of a library’s Collection Development Policy. - A list of all library collections and their locations in the library, including how to generate reports from your library’s integrated library system (ILS). The ILS is an integrated set of applications designed to perform the business and technical functions of a library, including acquisitions, cataloging, circulation, and the provision of public access. ILS software is used to track items owned (inventory), orders placed/bills paid (acquisitions), and patrons who have borrowed (circulation and interlibrary loan). ILS vendors for public libraries include Biblionix, KOHA, Innovative Interfaces, and SirsiDynix.
- The date(s) of the last inventory and weeding of the library’s collections and the schedule for the weeding cycle. Weeding is the process of examining items in a library collection title by title to identify for permanent withdrawal those that meet the library’s pre-established weeding criteria, especially when space in the stacks is limited. Public libraries usually weed routinely on the basis of circulation numbers and physical condition.
- Instructions for responding to challenges to library materials or programs. A challenge is a complaint made by a library patron or other member of the community – acting as an individual or representing a group – concerning the inclusion of a particular item in a library collection, usually accompanied by a request that the item be removed from the library, reshelved in another section of the library, or made available only to a particular segment of the population. A challenge may also be made to a library program. The library’s best defense against challenges is an unambiguously worded collection development and maintenance policy.