Overview of the NH State Library Van Delivery System

 

Van Sorting at NHSL 1/4/2022

On January 4, the state library hosted a zoom call for libraries statewide to discuss the interlibrary loan delivery system. These notes are from Charles Shipman's presentation at that meeting and are posted here to give NH librarians a general sense of how the State Library ILL delivery service operates. If you have questions or comments, please contact Charles at 603-271-3392 or email Charles.A.Shipman@dncr.nh.gov. Charles Shipman is the Supervisor of Reference & Information Services at the New Hampshire State Library.

REGIONS

We divide the state into five regions for our delivery routes.These regions were also used to create the ILL lending strings in the NHAIS ILL system.

Capital District: This is a once-a-week route that covers the area directly around Concord. It also includes some state agencies and the NH Technical Institute.

Lakes Region: Covers the region around Lake Winnipesaukee, Winnisquam and Squam Lake. It includes parts of Belknap, Carroll, Merrimack Counties, and a bit of Grafton Co. too.

North Country: Covers Coos and most of Carroll and Grafton counties. There is some overlap between the Lakes Region and North Country routes. For example, Conway and Tamworth have stops as part of both routes.

Southeast: Predominantly Hillsborough, Strafford, and Rockingham Counties.

Southwest: Cheshire and Sullivan Counties, as well as parts of Hillsborough and Merrimack.

DRIVERS

We have 3 full-time drivers and 3 part-time drivers. We have one full-time driver each for the Southwest and North Country regions. The third full-time driver mostly covers the Lakes Region but also has a weekly route in the Southeast and one in the Southwest. We have 3 part-time drivers that cover the Southeast, in addition to one weekly Southwest route. Finally, we have 2 routes, the Capital District and the Friday Lakes Region, driven by circulation staff members. Reference and Circulation staff also handle all fill-in duties in the case of driver absence or vacation. Reference & Circulation staff and NHAIS & Technical Services staff also handle the sorting of incoming material each afternoon.

VEHICLES

The state library has 6 vans dedicated to ILL delivery. We’ve been able to refresh our vehicle fleet in the last couple of years, so now all but one of our vans is a 2020 or 2021 model. We generally replace one van a year on a rotating basis. Here’s what we currently have (mileage is from Dec 1 2021. LB# refers to the state-issued license plates):

LB1: Our oldest van, a 2016 model with 179,000 miles. It’s used now for the Capital District route and as a substitute or supplement when other vans are out or makeup routes are needed.

LB2: A 2020 with 42,000 miles, used for the Southeast region.

LB4: A 2020 with 49,000 miles, used for the Southwest region.

LB5: A 2021, 35,000 miles, mostly used for the Lakes region. Also SE, SW.

LB6: A 2020 model with about 42,000 miles, split between SE, SW and Lakes

LB8: Our newest van, a 2021 with 6000 miles, used for the North Country.

ROUTES, STOPS, MILEAGE, DIRECT DELIVERIES, & LIBRARIES SERVED

This is a rough estimate based on a random week of normal service (no holidays or cancellations) but it gives a reasonable measure of the mileage covered by the ILL vans in a typical week.

The number of libraries with NHAIS transactions is for the the timeframe 12/1/2020 to 11/30/2021. NHAIS transactions do not account for all items transferred between libraries but are the best available measure at this time.

Capital District: 1 route. 13 stops. 91 miles. 9 libraries with direct delivery. 9 libraries with NHAIS transactions.

Lakes Region: 4 routes. 52 stops per week. 680 miles per week. 30 libraries with direct delivery. 48 libraries with NHAIS transactions.

North Country: 5 routes. 53 stops per week. 1085 miles per week. 40 libraries with direct delivery. 42 libraries with NHAIS transactions.

Southeast: 8 routes. 106 stops per week. 1212 miles per week. 55 libraries with direct delivery. 73 libraries with NHAIS transactions.

Southwest: 7 routes. 94 stops per week. 1440 miles per week. 56 libraries with direct delivery. 74 libraries with NHAIS transactions.

The vans also deliver to other institutions, such as community colleges and some state agencies, which are not included here.

NHAIS TRANSACTIONS BY ROUTE

For the period December 1 2020 to November 30 2021, there were 113,429 loans (and hence 113,429 borrows) in the NHAIS system. This is not a complete measure of all items transported by ILL vans, but I’m using it here as a proxy for the amount of material moved.

NHAIS TRANSACTIONS BY REGION 12/1/2020 to 11/30/21

Capital District - 3,050 loans;  3,478 borrows

Lakes Region - 18,981 loans;  21,867 borrows

North Country - 11,116 loans; 10,270 borrows

Southeast Region -  46,505 loans;  46,251 borrows

Southwest Region - 33,773 loans;  31,555 borrows

Statewide totals - 113,429 loans;  113,429 borrows

REGIONAL TRANSACTIONS AS a % OF TOTAL NHAIS LENDING/BORROWING

Capital District - 2.7% of loans; 3.1% of borrows

Lakes Region - 16.7% of loans; 19.3% of borrows

North Country - 9.8% of loans; 9.1% of borrows

Southeast Region - 41.0% of loans; 40.8% of borrows

Southwest Region - 29.8% of loans; 27.8% of borrows