By Jane Henderson, Sep 29, 2021
A catalog of almost 5 million items — from books to DVDs — will be created next year when the St. Louis city and county integrate their library systems.
The two aren’t combining libraries, but they are making it easier for residents to access materials, they said in a news release Wednesday.
If a person in south St. Louis, for example, wants to check out a book unavailable in the city library, he or she can request it through the new integrated system and it will be delivered to a nearby city library.
Patrons will be able to use the library card they have and will not need to get a new one.
The city and county libraries have shared resources for 28 years through a reciprocal lending agreement. City residents could also get a county library card and vice versa, but borrowers usually had to travel farther to pick up materials.
The new shared catalog will be made available by using Polaris ILS (integrated library system), a product of Innovative Interfaces Inc. A spokeswoman for the county library said sharing a system will save both libraries money.
Editor’s Note: This approach should be applicable to many large libraries, often a city library and county library in big metropolitan areas. For example,
Editor’s Note: This approach should be applicable to many large libraries, often a city library and county library in big metropolitan areas. For example,
| SAN DIEGO COUNTY LIBRARY | 1,281,922 |
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| SAN DIEGO PUBLIC LIBRARY | 2,539,784 |
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Their combined catalog, not allowing for duplicates, would be 3,821,706 items.