Interesting library news

The Ames Public Library and Iowa State University Library are both located in Ames, IA and are only two miles apart from each other. And for years the only way to interlibrary loan books to each other was to send them in the US Postal Service mail which meant these items traveled through Des Moines, which is 31 miles away.

These libraries have recently changed its ILL delivery service from US mail to bicycle delivery. The bicycle delivery service is run by a company called Bikes at work. http://www.bikesatwork.com/

Using the bike delivery service has improved the delivery speed ("from 4.63 days to 3.13 days"), lowered the cost ("the cost per item is just 48 cents, while the average parcel -not always one item- last year was $2.48") and increased the types of materials that can be exchanged (notably CDs and DVDs can now be loaned).

The run is profitable for the delivery company, cheaper for the libraries, and better for the environment. What's not to like about this?