MONTICELLO, FL — Interlibrary loan allows patrons to borrow books from other libraries, but funding will end on October 1st.
- Federal funding cuts threaten interlibrary loan services in rural areas like Jefferson County.
- Local residents express concern over the impact on library services and access to resources.
- Bender urges the community to contact Congress representatives to advocate for restoration of funding.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Federal funding cuts are impacting how local libraries can get books to and from other libraries. One area seeing the biggest impact, libraries in rural areas, like the one in Jefferson County.
Natalie Bender is the director of the Jefferson County Library. She says that since the news, neighbors say they are concerned about the library overall.
"The funding for the interlibrary courier service, that's the service that brings the books between the libraries all over the state, is being cancelled October 1st for lack of funding."
Interlibrary Loan is a free service that's been around for quite some time. It works like a trading system, where if you are a member of the library at one location, you can get a book from any other partnering library, including university libraries.
Richard Wilfong says, "That's a difficult deal cause I saw one time, someone wrote a quote 'the man who can read and does not is no better off than the man who cannot read...'"
Richard Wilfong lives in Monticello. He visits the Jefferson County Library often.
"8 out of 10 books I request are not in this building."
Wilfong says the Jefferson County Library is a hub for the community for many services, including his ability to get a book from as far south as Broward County.
"Interlibrary loan is a core part of library services in Florida, and especially for libraries like ours that are rural. We are the only library here in Jefferson County. Bender says this only makes neighbors in Jefferson County want to take some action. Bender says, "Right now, you can contact your representatives in Congress and remind them that IMLS gives this money to the state to pay for interlibrary loans. The money isn't totally gone; the money can be put back in. I think our legislators want that if they knew how it impacts people."
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