In August, I posted a blog about how Interlibrary Loan items travel between us and other libraries in the country. I talked about the mail service, the greyhound bus, and our courier service. I did, however, forget to mention who is responsible for organizing the courier service for us. That would be MALA (Mid-America Library Alliance).
Having entered semi-retirement recently, I’ve been spending some of my spare time working for Mid-Continent Public Library. Being surrounded by books on a regular basis has given me the opportunity reread books I enjoyed as a child. One of the books of that I have fond memories is titled Jexium Island by the French author Madeleine Grattan. I checked MCPL's catalog to see if any of the thirty MCPL branches had a copy of the book. Unfortunately, this book was published back in 1957, and none of them had a copy.
One of the great things about the MCPL system is the ability to get almost any item you might be trying to find. With over thirty branches, the Library has almost anything you could want. But every once in a while, there might be something that <gasp> our Library doesn’t own.
Ever wonder how ILL (Interlibrary Loan) works? You place a request and a little while later, it arrives from across the country. Or, are you nervous about using the service, afraid you are going to make a mistake? Whether you are a new user to ILL or feel you are a seasoned veteran to the service, this class will have something for you.
The Kansas State Historical Society has announced that, effective April 1, 2013, they have suspended their interlibrary loan (ILL) program to out-of-state libraries. What does this means for the patrons of the Midwest Genealogy Center? Unfortunately, we will no longer be able to borrow newspapers on microfilm from the Kansas State Historical Society.
One of the fun parts of working at the Library is getting to talk to the customers about the various books they read and recommend. The other day, a woman wanted to read the sequels to Heidi, the children's classic by Johanna Spyri. I didn't even know there were sequels. I searched MCPL's catalog and didn't find anything. I got on WorldCat and, sure enough, there were two sequels by Charles Tritten, Heidi Grows Up and Heidi's Children.
