The Kansas Library Express courier service is moving library materials throughout the state of Kansas. The service provides a low-cost means of shipping between participating libraries, offering deliveries 3 times or 5 times a week.
The service began in July, 2009 with 200 public, academic, school and special libraries. The news of savings and service is generating interest in all regions of Kansas.
By February 2010, courier participation has grown to 224 libraries, with an additional 26 receiving “indirect service” through another library. The list of courier libraries is found at the Kansas Library Express website http://kslibexpress.mykansaslibrary.org/participant-list/
The report of the first six month’s of the Kansas Library Express shows how easy sharing materials has become. In Northeast Kansas Library System, courier libraries have shipped 134,944 items by Kansas Library Express at an average cost of $.83 per item. Many of these materials were shared between libraries in NEKLS. In addition, the reasonable cost of Kansas Library Express allows courier libraries to ship materials across the state. NEKLS libraries receive generous support for Kansas Library Express in the form of system subsidies and payment of surcharges for high volume use. Additional support has been provided by the State Library of Kansas.
Teri Nelson is the Staff Assistant at NEKLS. You can reach her by email (tnelson (at) nekls.org), phone, or on the Google Chat instant messaging platform (look Teri up by her email address). Visit the 
