Book a book from your reading nook!

Say you just got home with your library haul. You have a huge stack of books and dvds  to keep yourself out of trouble and in your reading nook for the next 3 weeks. You settle in, and start at the top of the pile. It’s an impulse pick that happens to be something by an author that you’ve always been meaning to check out but never have.  It grabs you. You DEVOUR it. You’ve closed the back cover before the snow has melted on your boots by the door.

Here’s the thing. You have 3 weeks before the rest of your books are due and you will probably find a few in your pile that are just great, but this one was something special. You start to wonder; how many more are there by this writer? Does my favourite library branch have them? Will they be on the shelf for me next time I’m there? Will I even remember to look for them after 3 weeks of (insert your busy thing here) passes by?

Time to climb out of your reading nook (or pick up your phone/ipad). Time to BOOK A BOOK!

Placing a hold at www.valleylibrary.ca can be fast and easy as long as you don’t get sidetracked and end up browsing through titles that you didn’t know you wanted to read.

Here’s what you do:

1. Grab your AVRL library card and go to www.valleylibrary.ca

2. Find the search field and type in the title. Don’t know the title? How about the author? Or the series name?

3. Clicking on the search button sends you to our online catalogue. Now it’s time to narrow the search. We can choose to search for title, author, subject, or series. Then, we can narrow our search even more, with a number of drop down menus.

4. Scroll down until you find a title that looks interesting and...

5. Wait! You must be logged in to place that hold! You need your library card number and your PIN. Don’t have a card? Get one here: http://valleylibrary.ca/get-library-card Forgot your PIN? Contact any branch for help.

6. Aha! The hold can now be placed.

7.Choose a pickup location. And that's it!

Now the hard part. Waiting until it’s ready for pick up!

Tips:

• Sharing a computer? Don’t forget to log out!
• Looking for a popular new release? Try a less popular format. Maybe the Large Print version is available. We also have audiobooks and eBooks through our Overdrive for Libraries service. 
• Keep your search simple, then narrow the search. You might see something unexpected and interesting with a broader search. Second, you could be too specific with your search terms and come up with nothing.
• Looking for DVDs? Choose format-DVD. Click the Find button. All the DVDs in our catalogue!
• Suspend holds: Want to watch a TV series in order and season 3 has a shorter waiting list than season 2? Place a suspended hold. You will keep your place in line for the item, but it won’t come to you before you need it. Also great if you are going to be away on vacation. Just suspend your holds until you get back.
• Don’t forget that the Annapolis Valley Regional Library shares our catalogue among 11 branches and the Bookmobile. If a book is in Windsor, we can have it sent to any of our other locations for pick up.
• If we don’t have it, Interlibrary Loans are also available. Separate rules apply.

Interlibrary Loans

We're quickly approaching the end of January and I'm wondering how people are doing with their New Year resolutions.   If your desire was to read more books, the library is the perfect place to help you reach that goal.  Maybe you've already visited your local library and they didn't have the book you were looking for.  Perhaps you were able to request it from one of the other branch libraries in our system.  Loan requests between branch libraries are fairly simple and are usually filled promptly. 

But what if our library system doesn't own the book at all?  Then what?  That's when you need the Reference department working on your behalf.   We can offer you the wonderful world of Interlibrary Loans (ILL).   The ILL service enables you to borrow books from libraries outside of the Annapolis Valley Regional Library system.  These books are often owned by other regional libraries in Nova Scotia.

Once you submit your ILL request, either at a branch or via our website, we will search high and low for the book you wish to read.   We will start by searching the 8 other regional library systems in the province.  If the book is not found, then we will expand our search to include academic libraries within the province.  We don't have to stop there either.  If you wish, we can search public and academic libraries across the country.  

Many libraries in Canada participate in and support Interlibrary Loans because it's a simple and cost-effective way to share resources among libraries and with the public.  This service is offered at no cost to you.  All you need is your library card and the doors are opened for you. 

When a book is borrowed through ILL, we are obliged to abide by the policies of the lending library, and to pass those stipulations onto you, the borrower.   Often, books may be borrowed for 2-3 weeks and sometimes renewals are possible.  Occasionally a book may be owned only by a library that charges a borrowing fee.  But don't worry, we will always check with you first to see if you are willing to pay any associated charges.

ILL requests are considerably more time consuming than branch to branch requests.  The average wait time can be anywhere from 6-10 weeks.  It all depends on the volume of requests and the availability at lending libraries.  We set a record in 2012, requesting more than 7000 items for our borrowers through Interlibrary Loan.  That's an increase of over 1000 items from the previous year.

We are known for, and proud of, our dogged determination in getting you the books that you want and need.   So please don't hesitate to give us a try and put our Interlibrary Loan service to work for you.  

-Pam Ellis,
Interlibrary Loans Queen