SUBMITTED BY LOU FEDORKOW, QUEENSTON.
OPINION

Dear Editor:

The interlibrary loan program has been the primary service I use at the NOTL library, as I am largely a consumer of non-fiction books and computer-based resources that cannot be freely accessed on the internet, along with independent, documentary and art films that are not the sort of best sellers which tend to be available in small communities.

Age has only increased my interest in new and fascinating stuff as I now have more time to explore.

The interlibrary loan service has been a lifeline that allows easy access to it all, without adding to a collection of books and DVDs I no longer use. I simply google the best resources I can find, cut and paste the relevant information into an email request addressed to the library’s wonderful interlibrary loan staff person, and she generally has them waiting for me to pick up in short order.

I self-studied as a docent for the Darwin Martin House and Albright Knox museums in Buffalo entirely through resources obtained by interlibrary loan. And on and on. At any one time, I’ve had one to three interlibrary loan items on the go ever since I learned how to use the invaluable service several years ago. 

But that’s just me. I’d be interested in hearing from other NOTL interlibrary loan users and finding out how it has enriched their lives.  

One of the very good things about the Stop the Cuts change.org petition posted by a fast-acting Stratford librarian is that it provides more details about what the interlibrary loan service does. (You can find the petition online by searching “Ford stop cuts library petition.”)

Please consider joining that petition’s signatories. If you prefer pen and paper, inquire about a paper-based petition at the library. The NOTL library boards and staff members can write letters to officials, but they need solid support backed up by numbers to reverse these cuts.

Lou Fedorkow

Queenston