Southern Ontario Library Service

Trent Large Print Pool

Terms of Membership (as of February 2005)

1.  PURPOSE
     To share resources in a cost-effective manner by cooperative acquisition of materials that are rotated to all member libraries.

2.  MEMBERSHIP

     a.    Membership is open to any public library willing to contribute an annual membership fee and
            maintain one or more blocks of large print books.
     b.    Member libraries agree to abide by the Terms of Membership. Member libraries will be
            represented by the CEO or designate.
     c.    Members may withdraw from the Pool with written notification. This notification must be sent to
            the SOLS Pool Administrator at the SOLS Toronto office at least 60 days prior to the    
            beginning of the membership year. In this way, the Pool Administrator will know how many
            libraries will be participating in the January rotation, and the Pool Management Team will know
            the revenue for the coming year. The withdrawing member library keeps the block(s) that they
            have at the time of the withdrawal from the Pool.
     d.    Large print ‘large format books’ will not be accepted by the Pool. The books in the block(s)
            contributed by the member library must be in good condition, and comprise a mix of genres.

3.  GOVERNANCE

     a.    A general meeting of pool members will only be held at the call of the Chair. The members will
            correspond by e-mail and arrive at a consensus on any decision affecting all pool members.
     b.    In April each year, a three (3) person Management Team will be elected to direct Pool activities
            and to make the selections for the coming year. The Management Team will be comprised of
            the Chairperson and two (2) other members of the Pool.

4.  FEES

     a.    The membership year is January 1 to December 31.
     b.    The annual membership fee is $125.00 (+ GST) per block, payable upon receipt of the SOLS
            invoice sent to participating libraries sometime after April 1st in the membership year.
     c.    SOLS charges an Administration Fee of $50.00 (+ GST) per Board.
     d.    The members of the Management Team will each receive an annual $50.00 honorarium for their
            work during the term of office.

5.  BLOCK SIZE

     a.    There will be no fewer than 50 titles in each block. A clean, accurate master list of titles must
            accompany each block at the time of the rotation.
     b.    Pool members should not assume responsibility for re-typing a block list. All lists are printed
            from a computer database and are easily updated by the SOLS Pool Administrator. If there are
            additions or deletions to be made to a list, email or indicate the changes in writing on the list
            and send it to the Pool Administrator.

6.  SELECTION

     The Management Team will select materials for the pool from the set of catalogues provided by the 
     SOLS Pool Administrator. New titles will be purchased using the money from the annual fees.

7.  ACQUISITIONS

     a.    The Management Team will send the marked catalogues to the SOLS Pool Administrator who
            will place the orders up to the amount available from the budget. All books will be ordered
            processed.
     b.    SOLS will provide TLPP spine label stickers with all new titles added to the blocks. SOLS will
            also affix a sticker on the inside cover of all new titles to indicate the membership year in
            which the book was purchased (i.e. “02” sticker for membership year 2002). This will avoid
            weeding new books from the pool.

8.  WEEDING

     a.    Weeding is the responsibility of the library holding the block. As new material is received from
            the Pool Administrator, an equal number of older or worn titles should be weeded so that each
            block holds 50 titles. This is really the only time that weeding should be done.
     b.    Weeded titles can become part of the participating library’s collection, or discarded. If you      
            want to keep the title in your collection, please remove all TLPP labels and the block
            designation and affix your own library identification.
     c.    On the accompanying list of titles in this block, indicate which titles you removed and send the
            list to the SOLS Pool Administrator who will return an updated list for this block.

9.  LOST/DAMAGED BOOKS

     a.    If a title is lost or damaged while on rotation in your library, it is your responsibility to replace 
            the missing title(s) with a book(s) of equal value (and approximately equal publication date but
            no more that 10 years old) from your own collection. If you add a title from your collection,
            make sure to mark the book with the TLPP Block Number and add a TLPP label to the book
            (labels can be obtained from the SOLS Toronto office). The replacement book(s) should not be
            from the old Lake Ontario Regional Library System collection of large print books.
     b.    Indicate the change(s) on the master list of titles in this block, and send the list to the SOLS  
            Pool Administrator who will return an updated list for this block. There is no need for you to
            retype the list.

10. ROTATIONS 

     a.    There will be three (3) rotations per year February, June and October. SOLS will provide an
            annual list of rotations dates for all pools. SOLS will also post the rotation schedule for each 
            rotation on the Web site.
     b.    SOLS will provide courier service to all members of the pool. Libraries not on regular delivery
            stops will receive special stops at the time of the rotations, or if this is not feasible, SOLS will
            provide and assume the cost of providing commercial courier service (e.g. Purolator) to and
            from the library. If a library’s block(s) are not ready for courier pick-up on the scheduled day,
            they will be responsible for shipping the blocks to the next location by other means at their
            own expense.

11. GENERAL PROCEDURES FOR ROTATIONS

     a.    Receiving Books:

• Using the block list that accompanies your new block, check the shipment of books to make sure that all titles have been received.
• Make sure there are at least 50 titles in each block. If less, check to see if the forwarding library has sent you a note indicating when the missing titles should arrive. If there are problems with the total number, please contact the forwarding library first, then the Pool Administrator.
• Check each book to ensure that it is marked with current block number and that each book has a proper, readable card.

     b.    Sending Books:

• As a member of the pool, it is your responsibility to ship your block(s) on the specific date given on the rotation schedule.
• Remove all books from shelves in plenty of time before rotation date to ensure that complete blocks can be shipped at one time.
• Make sure that all cards are in the proper books.
• Box items carefully, making sure that all the titles in the original shipment you received are now accounted for. Label and address boxes as in examples.

• If there are overdue titles that will be shipped at a later date, inform the next library in writing as to the status of these titles (e.g. two titles, The Jury and The Firm are out on circulation and are overdue, expect that we should be able to send by the end of next week). Make sure that you keep the receiving library informed of the status of these missing titles. Please do not send overdue titles to the SOLS office, they can be sent directly to the library that now has the titles in that particular block.
• Four (4) weeks following the rotation, if the books are still missing, it is your responsibility to replace the missing titles with books of equal value (and approximately equal publication date), or be invoiced by SOLS for replacement cost.
• Report all changes in block lists to the SOLS Pool Administrator.
  

12. SOLS ROLE

1. invoice members
2. order pool materials
3. assign titles to blocks
4. provide TLPP stickers
5. schedule rotations
6. deliver pool materials
7. prepare annual financial statements and post on the Web site
8. schedule general meetings, as necessary
9. minutes, agendas, correspondence etc.
10. maintain pool files
11. maintain a master list of pool holdings