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SOLS libraries Interlibrary Loan Statistics
Interlibrary Loan provides access to resources which are not available in one’s own library. Through INFO (Information Network for Ontario), libraries search the collections of other libraries and place requests. The INFO ILL software moves requests from library to library, starting with the nearest holding location, until a library fills the request and sends the material. While a search begins with the closest public libraries, it can be extended to university libraries, libraries outside of Ontario and even outside of Canada.
Libraries participate in interlibrary loan at their discretion. While they are encouraged to lend as many items as they borrow to keep the system in balance, with over 10 million items available and 145 public libraries in southern Ontario participating, no library needs to be a big net lender.
SOLS tracks net lending activity within southern Ontario by library size categories:
- Libraries serving a population greater than 100,000 are slight net lenders, lending 1.6 books for every one they borrow.
- Libraries serving less than 15,000 are slight net borrowers, lending 0.7 books for every one they borrow.
- All other size categories are close to 1, meaning they borrow and lend about the same number.
2007 Interlibrary Loan Statistics provides data by individual library as well as summaries for each of the library size categories.