“My wife and I took a road trip to Florida last summer to introduce our son to my grandma. On our way back to Maine, we stopped for a night in the small city I was born in, and we spent the following morning touring the town’s library. I had been mulling over a career change for a while, and the library tour made it crystal clear: you should be in a library. I was so hyped when an opportunity came up in Interlibrary Loan—it’s one of my favorite library services—and it’s very satisfying to be part of the literal library magic that allows libraries to collaborate across borders to bring people entertainment and information from all over the country.”
What is your favorite part of the ILL process? What is the most challenging?
I really enjoy unpacking the state van delivery, and seeing all the new arriving items that are about to be sent to our patrons throughout the PPL system. And pulling items for MaineCat and ILL patrons—I’m constantly being presented with new and interesting things to add to my TBR pile, or being reminded to check back in on writers and artists I loved when I was a kid.
What are the most commonly requested topics/materials?
Mysteries and romances are still going strong. Our library has more quirky B-movies than the average library of our size, and we get a lot of requests for those kinds of films. And all stripes of self-improvement books are still very popular, whether it be mind-body health, or how to get started with a new hobby like knitting or crochet. There’s one particular book on ergonomics of knitting that gets requested almost every week, sometimes multiple times per week, and that’s been a trend since I started working here four months ago.
What do you want Library users to know about ILL services?
The more patrons use it, and the more libraries participate in interlibrary loan, the more powerful and helpful the service becomes! I’m blown away sometimes when I get a request for something that seems obscure and hard to source, and as I get into the searching process, I discover five, or eight, or twelve libraries who still carry that item and are willing and able to lend it to us. There’s a lot of vicarious satisfaction in the work we do.
If ILL was cut from the budget – how would this affect patrons?
We’re lucky to have a pretty robust collection on our own, but even robust collections have meaningful gaps. Losing access to ILL would turn those gaps into disappointment and expense and lost opportunities for our patrons. It would also hurt the patrons all over the country who use ILL to access unique and interesting materials from the PPL collection. It would be a tremendous loss.
Special thank you to Brendon and the ILL Team for their dedication to this special library service.
ABOUT BRENDON:
Brendon Barnes is a writer and culture critic from central Florida who came to Maine in 2016 and to Portland Public Library in 2022. His fiction has been published in Portland Review and Bayou Magazine. After earning his MFA, he started an online magazine called sinkhole with his grad school buddies that still hosts archives of his cultural criticism, reviews, and interviews with writers like Annie Hartnett and David Vann. Prior to moving north to Maine, Brendon worked in his hometown library in Orlando, Florida. He is a lover of podcasts, costume dramas, and his growing family. Brendon has an MFA in Creative Writing from University of Central Florida and a BA from Columbia University.
PPL HIGHLIGHT: In May of 2023, Brendon joined author and professor Ilyon Woo to discuss her book Master Slave, Husband Wife. Woo’s book recounts the remarkable true story of Ellen and William Craft, who escaped slavery through daring, determination, and disguise, with Ellen passing as a wealthy, disabled White man and William posing as “his” slave. You can watch the entire interview HERE.
WHAT’S YOUR INTERLIBRARY LOAN STORY?
We love how ILL has connected people to their past! Tell us about an item – favorite book, magazine, movie, tv show – you loved when you were young that you were only able to find through Interlibrary Loan. Or, let us help you locate that hard-to-find item – we are always happy to help! Want to learn more about the ILL Team and their work, including fun facts about popular topics and what’s trending? Check out Library Heroes: InterLibrary Loan Connects A World of Materials.
posted: , by Heather Wasklewicz