Libraries in Northeast Kansas have already made strong commitments to providing convenient access to library resources through the NExpress regional catalog and our regional courier service. NEKLS libraries will soon be taking that access to a new level through our participation in the new statewide library courier service. That service is in its final planning stages and is expected to begin service sometime in July. The new service will be provided by a private courier company, and coordinated by the Northeast Kansas Library System as a statewide service.
There are two principal benefits to the new service: it will provide connections to more than 200 Kansas libraries, and it will provide a minimum of three stops per week at a cost very close to that of the current NEKLS courier service. NEKLS will be providing significant funding and staff support to make that possible. The routing of requests in the statewide interlibrary loan system will be edited to reflect the availability of this new service.
However, this new service will require all of us to make adjustments in the transition from the regional courier service that NEKLS has been providing since 2004. Because the service will be part of a fixed route determined by the courier company some libraries may need to make arrangements to accommodate that schedule. Libraries will soon be receiving a schedule of delivery times and other information as soon as a final contract is completed with the courier provider.
I hope that this will be the beginning of a true statewide delivery service that will eventually connect all Kansas libraries.
Jim Minges is the Director of NEKLS. You can reach him by email (jminges (at) nekls.org) or by phone. Visit the 
