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May 13, 2010

No more library loans

http://www.northjersey.com

Thursday, May 13, 2010

BY MOLLIE GRAY
Verona-Cedar Grove Times
MANAGING EDITOR

Verona and Cedar Grove library users will soon have to find another means of borrowing books the municipal library doesn't carry.

The interlibrary loan service, which residents can use to request materials not available at their local library, is due to end June 30.
The elimination of the service is part of Gov. Chris Christie's proposed $10.4 million in cuts to New Jersey's public libraries – a 74 percent reduction in funding. New Jersey is also slated to lose $4.5 million in federal funding for libraries, once state funding is eliminated.

Locally, the funding cuts will make it more difficult for patrons to access materials from other libraries across the state, explained library officials.
"They would have to go out and buy these books themselves or pay to download them if the information is available, or the information just won't be obtainable," said Jim Thomas, director of the Verona Public Library. "Obviously we in Verona and Cedar Grove are small libraries and we have neither the budget nor the room to house large collections and interlibrary loan is an efficient way to share those materials."

The Verona library typically loans out between 1,200 and 1,300 materials a year through the interlibrary loan system, said Thomas. The library receives deliveries from the service four days a week.

The Cedar Grove Free Public Library loaned a total of 9,158 materials through other libraries in 2009, according to library Director Catherine Wolverton.
The proposed budget cuts would also eliminate access to research databases like EBSCOhost, which allows residents to search electronically for the full text of millions of articles.
E-mail: gray@northjersey.com

Verona and Cedar Grove library users will soon have to find another means of borrowing books the municipal library doesn't carry.

The interlibrary loan service, which residents can use to request materials not available at their local library, is due to end June 30.

The elimination of the service is part of Gov. Chris Christie's proposed $10.4 million in cuts to New Jersey's public libraries – a 74 percent reduction in funding. New Jersey is also slated to lose $4.5 million in federal funding for libraries, once state funding is eliminated.

Locally, the funding cuts will make it more difficult for patrons to access materials from other libraries across the state, explained library officials.

"They would have to go out and buy these books themselves or pay to download them if the information is available, or the information just won't be obtainable," said Jim Thomas, director of the Verona Public Library. "Obviously we in Verona and Cedar Grove are small libraries and we have neither the budget nor the room to house large collections and interlibrary loan is an efficient way to share those materials."

The Verona library typically loans out between 1,200 and 1,300 materials a year through the interlibrary loan system, said Thomas. The library receives deliveries from the service four days a week.

The Cedar Grove Free Public Library loaned a total of 9,158 materials through other libraries in 2009, according to library Director Catherine Wolverton.

The proposed budget cuts would also eliminate access to research databases like EBSCOhost, which allows residents to search electronically for the full text of millions of articles.

E-mail: gray@northjersey.com

Posted by tumulty at May 13, 2010 5:46 PM

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