Any type of library can receive van service indirectly via a drop off library.

Items received and sent to the library are addressed to the library via a library that already receives van service. The library must travel on a weekly basis to the library receiving van service to pick up and deliver materials.

To do so, the library must first receive permission from the library receiving van service, and then contact Reference and Information Services Section of the State Library.

Direct Van Service

In general, only public libraries receive direct van service. There are exceptions.

To determine if a public library is eligible to receive direct van service and/or to determine the number of van stops a library should receive in a week, several factors are examined.

The most current Interlibrary Loan statistics as published in Public Library Statistics and/or the ILL statistics provided by NHAIS are reviewed to determine the total number of annual ILL transactions (number of books borrowed plus the number of books loaned) for a library.

This total number of transactions is then applied to the benchmarks listed below.

Other major factors used to determine the number of stops a library receives each week are the geographic location, the number of stops that other libraries receive in the same area and available NH State Library staff to provide the service.

It is not possible to meet each library's needs as they are reflected in the established benchmarks. Some libraries qualify for a higher number of stops per week but are not scheduled for that many stops because of their geographic location and/or because surrounding libraries do not qualify for the same number of stops.

At the same time, some public libraries do not meet the present benchmark figures in total interlibrary loan transactions to qualify for the number of stops that they are presently receiving. The ILL transactions of each library are reviewed on an annual basis. To ensure that a van delivery stop is not dropped, libraries that presently do not meet the benchmark figures may want to review the ILL service they provide their patrons with the purpose of increasing the number of their annual ILL transactions.

Goal of the Van Service

The goal of the State Library's van delivery service is to provide next day service from Monday through Friday - the lending library sends a book on the van service on Monday, the borrowing library would receive it on Tuesday. To meet this goal two things must happen: libraries must increase their ILL transactions to justify the service and funds must be allocated to pay for the increase in service. If the ILL transactions are increased, the funding may follow.