The Annual Library Certification Process began on Wednesday, January 2, 3013. By the end of the day, over 130 library organizations had completed the online form.
Illinois State Library (ISL) Communications Manager Patrick McGuckin related that ISL “Director Anne Craig recently contacted the Secretary of State’s Assistant General Counsel to obtain a clarification about what types of items can be delivered to member libraries through the inter-system Illinois Library Delivery System (ILDS) and the three regional library systems' intra-system delivery services.”
On November 27, 2012, Cynthia Wood, Assistant General Counsel, Office of the Illinois Secretary of State, replied, in part, “This memorandum is in response to your inquiry as to what type of items can be delivered to member libraries through the backbone inter-system Illinois library Delivery System and the three library systems' intra-system delivery services. For the purposes of this memorandum, the two service types - inter and intra system delivery will be collectively referred to as library delivery service. The library delivery service has statutory authority to operate pursuant to 23 III. Admin. Code 3030.50… The United States Postal Code generally prohibits the conveyance of letters… by regular trips or at stated periods over any postal route by anyone other than the United States Postal Service unless the sending or carrying of letters accompany and relate in all substantial respects to some part of the cargo or the ordering, shipping, or delivery of the cargo. …A letter is defined as ‘a message directed to a specific person or address and recorded in or on a tangible object’ [and] Tangible objects used for letters include, but are not limited to paper… recording disks, and magnetic tapes.”
Ms. Wood explained that tangible objects used for letters do not include
a. Objects whose material or shape and design make them valuable or useful for purposes other than as media for long-distance communications, unless the objects are actually used as media for personal and business correspondence.
b. Outsized, rigid objects not capable of enclosure in envelopes, sacks, boxes, or other containers commonly used to transmit letters or packets of letters. Generally, all First-Class Mail and all Standard Mail matter, other than merchandise or other goods, delivered to a specific person or place in accordance with a selective delivery plan would be considered a letter…
Her list of items “not considered letters…and therefore… deliverable through the library delivery service” included telegrams; financial instruments, including checks, promissory notes, bonds, stock certificates, securities, and insurance policies; liens, mortgages, deeds, leases, and articles of incorporation; papers filed in lawsuits; newspapers and periodicals; books, catalogs, and telephone directories; matter sent from a printer or stationer to a customer to write letters; old letters being moved as part of household or business relocation, or being moved for deposit in a storage center, or being moved for destruction; tags, labels, stickers, signs, and posters; photographic material being sent from a customer to a processor or from a processor to a customer; copies sent by customers to printers or compositors, copies sent from printers to compositors, and proofs sent by printers or compositors to customers; and sound recordings and films. Ms. Wood concluded, “Since the vast majority of interlibrary loan materials consist of books, newspapers, maps and periodicals, they would not be considered letters and may be sent through the library delivery service without concern. Any items that can be cataloged within a library are deliverable through the library delivery service. All letters unrelated to cargo sent and items that cannot otherwise be cataloged within a library must be sent through means other than library delivery service. Such items as overdue notices, letters, memos, or loan request forms for loan items other than those being shipped at the time, should not be sent via library delivery service unless appropriate postage has been paid and cancelled as required by 39 USC 601 (a).”
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Last month, McGuckin bid adieu to two departing ISL staff members. “Two outstanding employees are embarking on well-deserved retirements from the State Library — Shirley Jonas, our Personnel Liaison who has been with us for nearly 37 years, and Patricia Salamon, Correspondence Operator with our Talking Book and Braille Service for almost14 years. Thanks to both of you for your many years of hard work and dedication to the State Library.”
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Remember, Thursday, January, 2013, is the deadline to complete the Public Library Association (PLA) / Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) survey aimed at identifying the different types of summer reading programs available in public libraries across the U.S. The PLA is a division of the American Library Association.
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On Wednesday, January 2, 2013, Carlsbad, California-based EOS International (http://www.eosintl.com) announced that they will exhibit at this year’s Ontario Library Association Super Conference in 2013. The OLA Super Conference will be held from January 30 to February 2, 2013 with exhibitors showcasing on January 31, 2013 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and on February 1, 2013 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
The conference will take place at the Metro Toronto Convention Center in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Ontario Library Association (OLA) is Canada's largest library organization and OLA's Super Conference is Canada's largest continuing education event in librarianship.
Within the Super Conference event is Canada’s largest library tradeshow. According to EOS, “The program is a tribute to the ability of OLA members to balance the cutting edge and the practical, in a way that can satisfy an increasingly diverse number of member interests and needs.” EOS International will also exhibit at the Computers in Libraries, Association of College & Research Libraries Conference, Medical Library Association, Special Library Association, and American Association of Law Libraries conferences in 2013.
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I note that ECA (Employment Corporation of America) is advertising they are trying to fill the job of sales representative – library accounts for a publisher in the western suburbs of Chicago. The sales rep will spend 30% of his or her time on the road.
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