Compromise Sought in Dispute Between Champaign Library and Tolono, Mahomet Libraries

The board president of the Lincoln Trail Libraries System said she hopes a compromise can replace a new policy of charging Tolono and Mahomet library members $200 a year to check out materials from the larger Champaign Public Library.

The topic was a major topic of discussion at a meeting of the Lincoln Trail board Monday in Champaign.

Board president Roseanne Reidner said a recent change in Lincoln Trail's Reciprocal Borrowing policy allows a member library to restrict out of town borrowing in some cases. She added the Champaign policy is extreme, especially since it bars inter-library loans.

"The change that we made in the Reciprocal Borrowing Policy really was meant to allow some restrictions in reciprocal borrowing, and not to take the borrowing down to zero," said Ridener. "And it was to have nothing to do with the Interlibrary Loan."

Patrons in the Lincoln Trail Libraries System can normally borrow materials for free from any public library in its nine-county region, but Champaign library officials say residents of Mahomet, Tolono and Savoy are using their library so much that it is causing a strain on the system during times of tight budgets.

Reidner said she will organize a "brainstorming" session with Champaign, Tolono and Mahomet library officials in the next few weeks to try to come up with an alternative plan.

Reidner said the principle of allowing reciprocal borrowing is important to all member libraries in the nine-county Lincoln Trailsystem, and she said she wants to preserve that principle.

"But at the same time, we realize that there are certain financial concerns," she said. "We hope that those can be resolved, and we also hope that people are able to use their home library more."

Champaign library officials say the use of their library by out of town residents is up sharply --- especially by members of the Mahomet and Tolono libraries. Officials with the larger library say that is a financial strain on them. Ridener attributes the heavy use of the Champaign library to changing lifestyles, with many people finding it more convenient to use the library near where they work, rather than using a library in the town in which they live.

The Champaign Public Library plans to institute its new policy in November, on a six-month trial basis.

(Photo courtesy of Lester Public Library/flickr)