Letter: Director defends materials, services the library offers

On behalf of Pahrump Community Library, I would like to give the correct information regarding the Library’s Interlibrary Loan Service. The letter to the Editor “Lack of library system a reason to move for resident” January 27, 2017, by Albert Kaplan was mistaken on several points.

The library does offer Interlibrary Loans to the community. Interlibrary loan is the process by which a library requests materials from or supplies material to another library on behalf of a patron. This service is offered to all patrons holding a valid library card.

Mr. Kaplan has used this service here at the library. Unfortunately, some of the materials he requested were obscure titles. Some of these titles, for example, could only be found at the University of Oxford, which would not lend out.

Last year over 100 Interlibrary Loan Requests were fulfilled. The library serves the entire community. The Board of Trustees and I could not justify spending thousands of dollars on a subscription to WorldCat Cataloging service to locate these obscure titles.

The library has a Board of Trustees, five local individuals who volunteer their time and expertise to set policies for the library. I am proud of the materials and service the library offers.

Susan Wonderly,

Director of Pahrump Community Library