Labelling ILL Materials for Van Delivery

A number of library staff, including your van drivers, sort thousands of items, coming/going on the van, each week. Errors are bound to happen. Proper material labelling will help to keep these errors to a minimum.

Included below are excerpts from the Van Delivery Service instructions (http://www.nh.gov/nhsl/services/librarians/van_delivery/instructions.html - scroll down to Guidelines) being sent as a reminder of proper labelling procedures.

Addressing Material to Be Sent on the Van - To ensure that the material is sent to its proper destination, it is important to address the material correctly. Please follow these instructions.


Routing Slip - Use a routing slip, which is at least 2 inches wide and 11 inches long. The State Library does not provide these slips. A sample sheet of these slips appears in a PDF file at the end of the online instructions.

The following information should be placed on the routing slip in this order:


Town - Enter the name of the town in which the library being sent the materials is located. Please do not abbreviate the name of the town. This may cause confusion (e.g. N. Hampton - is this North Hampton or New Hampton). It is important to include the town to assure proper delivery. For example there is a Weeks Library in Greenland and one in Lancaster.


Library - Enter the name of the library being sent the material. Abbreviations such as PL for public library and HS for high school may be used.


Drop-Off Library - If the material is being sent to a library which receives its materials at another library, enter "FOR" followed by the name of the library to which the material is being sent. For example, if material is being sent to Taylor Library, East Derry via the Derry Public Library, the routing slip should be addressed as follows:

Town: Derry
Library: Derry Public Library
For: Taylor Library, East Derry


FROM - Enter the name of the library which is sending the material, followed by the name of the town if it is not evident in the name of the library.


DATE - Enter the date that the material is being sent.


Lending/Returning - Place a check mark next to the appropriate box to indicate whether you are lending the book to a library or returning the book which your library had borrowed.


Initials - The staff member who is processing the book should enter her/his initials.


Message - The bottom of the routing slip can be used to enter a message, special instructions, etc.


Special Address Instructions for the N.H. State Library - When sending materials to the State Library, please include the section to which the material is being sent (Electronic & Government Resources, Fiscal and Administrative Services, Library Development Services, NHAIS Services, Reference and Information Services, Talking Book Services, and Technical Services). The "To" part of the address should read as follows:

Town: Concord
Library: NH State Library (or NHSL)
NHAIS Services

Packaging of the Material - Material (books, envelopes, videos, cassettes, etc.) are placed into open bins which are transferred from and to a van. Material that is picked up is sorted and then placed into the appropriate bin at the State Library. To ensure that the material arrives at its proper destination in good condition, libraries are asked to package the materials in the following manner.

Books - The routing slip should be placed in approximately the middle of the book with the top portion of the slip containing the TO: address showing. At a minimum, one rubber band should be placed around the book.
If the book is in poor condition, it should be placed in a padded bag. The routing slip should be taped onto the front of the bag.

Envelope - Write the same information (to and from address) on the envelope as would be placed on a routing slip. If the envelope has been used before, please cross out all old addresses. Fasten the envelope.

Video - The routing slip should be taped to the cassette case, and a rubber band should be used to keep the case closed.

Films - The routing slip should be taped to film case.

Boxes - The box should be taped closed and a routing slip should be taped to the top of the box. Boxes should be of reasonable size and weight. A box is considered manageable if the librarian or other staff member (with the exception of the custodian) can lift it.

Paper Bags - Please do not use paper bags to send material via the van.