News

2018 IHLS Delivery Survey

Illinois Heartland Library System (IHLS) is committed to providing great services to you. As we focus on continuous improvements, we recognize how important delivery is to you and your library patrons. Your candid feedback is critical to help us understand your library’s delivery needs and how we are doing meeting those needs.

We are doing something new this year. More than one person may fill out this year's delivery survey. The more input, the better overall sense we have of our delivery service.

Please complete the survey before Wednesday, February 28, 2018. The survey should take you about 5-10 minutes to complete.

Click here to take the 2018 IHLS Delivery Survey

Thank you for your time and we appreciate your partnership with IHLS Delivery Services!

 

posted: February 13, 2018 - 10:12am

Required Delivery Count Week - February 19-23, 2018

 

It is almost time for the next quarterly count week. Great news! ALL libraries will only have to count items that have a hand-written label on them which includes gift/donation items. You can find a link to the count form on the IHLS website on the delivery page. Thank you again for your cooperation and assistance. Quarterly Delivery Count Form (PDF)

posted: February 9, 2018 - 11:08am

Delivery Update 12/27/17

All routes are running in all of the hubs today, December 27, 2017. However, there may be delays due to the cold. Thank you for your understanding!

Susan Palmer
Operations Director

posted: December 27, 2017 - 10:55am

Edwardsville Route 2 Cancelled 12-26-17

Route 2 from Edwardsville has been canceled today. We are sorry about this. The driver is ill and unable to run it.

To see if your library is affected please visit:

https://www.illinoisheartland.org/?q=delivery/routes/edwardsville 

posted: December 26, 2017 - 1:30pm

Items Lost or Damaged in Transit Reminder

Hi! My name is Susan Palmer and I am the Operations Director here at IHLS. I wanted to send a reminder on what the Interlibrary Loan Code states for replacement or damage fees charged by the supplying library. In July of 2016, IHLS began delivering the items that go between our hubs. The third party contractor was taken out of the equation. This results in control over the items all our members share in IHLS. 

Items Lost or Damaged in Transit

 

posted: September 13, 2017 - 2:45pm

Last day of Delivery for School Year 2016-17

The end of the school year is fast approaching.  The System’s courier delivery service to schools for this school year will end on Friday, May 19, 2017.  The first day of delivery for the 2017-18 school year will be the week of August 21, 2017.  If your school needs to adjust either of these dates, please contact your hub manager to work out a schedule that will work more efficiently for you.  I know some of the managers have already spoken to a few of you and your end date for this year, has been changed. If your school will be conducting summer sessions and you would like delivery, please contact your hub manager so a schedule can be set up. 

 

If your students return items after the final pick up date, remember, you can return them to any local Public Library. 

 

Feel free to contact your hub manager with any questions concerning your school’s delivery service. 

Carbondale (ZCA): Arlanna Fries
Champaign (ZCH): Linda Kates
Edwardsville (ZED): Linda Petty

 

posted: May 11, 2017 - 8:25am

2017 Delivery Survey

Illinois Heartland Library System recognizes how important delivery is to you and your library patrons. As we evaluate our services, we need your help to better understand your library’s delivery needs.

Click here to take the survey

The information obtained from the 2017 IHLS Delivery Study is critical to help us as we improve upon and plan future delivery services. We are committed to providing great service to you and your candid feedback is critical to our focus on continuous improvement. We are hoping that one person from each library will take 5 to 10 minutes to complete this brief survey.

 

Please complete our survey before Friday, February 24, 2017.  

posted: February 10, 2017 - 10:52am

Delivery On the Go (DOG)

There has been some confusion as to whether or not we still do Delivery On the Go (DOG).  DOG is where a library, on the same route, has requested an item for delivery. That item may be able to be delivered later that day when the driver arrives at that library.  DOGs are only available if that library is on the same route as your library and delivery is scheduled to arrive at the receiving library later that day.

We will do our best to deliver those items that same day. There may be times when that is not possible but we are striving for that service to be offered.  The Statewide Delivery Committee recommendations say “As a statewide best practice that enables same day delivery, libraries have the option, in order to accommodate an immediate or a special circumstance’s interlibrary loan need, to sort and separate items for libraries following theirs WHEN those libraries are on the same delivery route and WHEN those libraries receive delivery that same day.”

I feel that this is an important and needed service that we need to help facilitate. We have now standardized our procedures in delivery. What this means is that we are no longer having the drivers sort on the route. It makes more sense for them to bring the library’s items back to their hub to sort them in a climate controlled building versus sorting out in the weather.

That being said, the way that DOGs need to be done, is that the items that are going “downstream” on the route, need to be labeled for that library and put on top of the delivery tub that is being picked up. If you have several items going to that same library, please package them separately in another bag. If you do not have another container/bag to place the items in, please call your hub manager and they will try to find some bags that may be used for this purpose.

Again, each item still needs to have a label on it. You may group together multiple items for the same library into a bag/container.

Please go to IHLS’ website to view your route. Go to Delivery, then Routes, or click here. You will see all the libraries on your route are listed. We will do our best effort to deliver the item that day.

Please do not hesitate to contact me, Susan Palmer, or your delivery manager with any questions or concerns.

 

Susan Palmer
Operations Director
Illinois Heartland Library System
618-656-3216 extension 409
spalmer@illinoisheartland.org

posted: December 15, 2016 - 2:32pm

School Delivery Starts Week of August 22

Unless you have contacted your delivery hub manager, school delivery will begin the week of August 22nd.

Please call your hub if you have an individual request or if your start date needs to be altered.

Champaign hub: Chris Janvrin
Carbondale hub:  Arlanna Fries
Edwardsville hub:  Linda Petty

 

posted: August 12, 2016 - 9:04am

Delivery Update - FAQs

It’s been one week since IHLS implemented new routes and changed hub boundaries. We saw a few bumps in the first week, but the good news is that there will be less in the coming weeks as we work through these changes.  I thought I would share some of the questions I’ve received and hopefully this will help!

 

  1.  I am worried about the 24 hour access.  How does this work?
  1. We’ve asked for “24 hour access”, but what we really mean is that since we run routes earlier – we need access to your library before you open to make the exchange of items. That doesn’t mean that we need access to you library at all hours – it just means that we need more flexibility in your schedule and access when your library may be closed to deliver your items more efficiently.
  1.  I used to get delivery in the morning, now the driver is coming in the afternoon.  Is there any way that my library could go back to morning deliveries?
  1.  This is a multi-faceted answer. The short answer is maybe.  Nothing is written in stone.  Delivery has gained 31 ILDS stops. The Laboratory for Applied Spatial Analysis (LASA) from SIUE, generated routes for us and, I will be honest, we are still tweaking them. The routes look great on paper but we know that sometimes doesn’t translate completely into practice.  While we are trying to accommodate requests, there are times we simply cannot switch the routes – but that does not mean that we won’t be able to change in the future. If the delivery time for your library could be better, please let your hub manager, or me, Susan, know.  We are keeping a file of requests and will do our best to accommodate those libraries if possible.
  1. This functional 5 day a week service – how does that work?
  1.  LASA created our routes with the goal of providing functional 5 day a week service.  Changing the routes is the first step.  Next, comes how to notify delivery when you, the library, has something for pickup.  Traci Edwards, has created notifications to alert delivery staff when a library has scanned in an item for pickup.  For non-SHARE libraries, we are working on a general email for you to alert delivery staff when you need a pick up.  If delivery has something, we will deliver whether it is your “day” of service or not.  More information will be coming in the next couple of weeks.
  1.  I heard something about libraries pre-sorting the items.  Do I have to do this and how?
  1.  In a couple of weeks, we will be asking for volunteers to do “pre-sorting”.  What that means is we would give your library, depending on what you prefer, 4 tubs and/or bags. They would be labeled ZED (Edwardsville), ZCA (Carbondale), ZCH (Champaign) and ILDS.  You would simply place the item (for SHARE members, the 3 letter hub code is on the label) in the correct hub container for where the library is located.  Volumes have increased exponentially and this will greatly cut down on the sorting time needed to process items and allow the items between our hubs to move more quickly.
  1.  The routes on the website are not updated.
  1.  We are still tweaking the routes. Please ask your hub manager for a current list. We will notify you once the routes have been updated on the website.  

 

If you have any other questions/comments, please do not hesitate to share them with your hub manager or myself, Susan Palmer.  We are moving towards the goal of better service for you, our member library.  We value your input.  Thank you for partnering with us to achieve this goal!

 

Susan Palmer
Operations Director
Illinois Heartland Library System
6725 Goshen Road
Edwardsville, Illinois 62025
618/656-3216 ext. 409
spalmer@illinoisheartland.org

 

posted: July 15, 2016 - 8:43am