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Library ends contract with Prospector effective January 1, 2021

Patrons will still be able to request materials from other libraries
Community Submission
2020_07_22_LL_longmong_library
The Longmont Public Library, shuttered since March in response to the coronavirus pandemic, will reopen on July 23, 2020. (Photo by Matt Maenpaa)

NEWS RELEASE
LONGMONT PUBLIC LIBRARY
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After months of discussions and negotiations with the Prospector interlibrary materials exchange service, the Flatiron Library Consortium, of which the Longmont Public Library is a member, has announced it will cancel its Prospector contract, effective Jan. 1, 2021.

Prospector is a central catalog of over fifty academic, public and special libraries in Colorado and Wyoming. The system includes books, eBooks, journals, movies, music, government documents and many other items. With this system, Library cardholders may request all lendable items from any partner library with quick delivery to the Longmont Library at no special cost to patrons via the Colorado Library Courier.

Flatiron Library Consortium’s decision to end the service was made after careful consideration and lengthy discussion. This decision was based on:

·         Analysis of our member library payments to Prospector and the necessity to reduce overall expenditures due to budget cuts.

·         The relatively low number of items requested through Prospector in comparison to the high volume of materials we are able to provide our communities through our Consortium. In 2019, Prospector accounted for 1.22% of the FLC total circulation of 5.4 million.

·         The ability of customers to directly access libraries across the state using the Colorado Library Card program.

Patrons will still be able to request materials from other libraries. Lending among Consortium partners will continue in the same seamless manner, and patrons will be able to access materials from non-Consortium libraries using the Interlibrary Loan service, known as ILL. The Interlibrary Loan service allows Library cardholders to borrow items from libraries nationwide. Books, audiobooks, periodical articles, and some newspapers on microfilm are available, and some libraries will lend CDs and DVDs. Library ILL staff will conduct searches of nationwide catalogs to locate materials for patrons who make requests by online form, over the phone, or in person (when the Library is open to the public). Complete details are available on the ILL webpage at https://bit.ly/Lib-ILL, along with information about existing Prospector items and last dates for ordering.

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