In response to the COVID-19 Ontario Declaration of Emergency, all Ontario Public Libraries have been closed to the public since mid-March. On May 14th, the provincial government announced that public libraries will be allowed to offer “pick up or delivery” services as part of Phase 1 of reopening the economy. Each library may establish different procedures for implementing pick-up and delivery services, which could include interlibrary loan or inter-branch services. See Pick-Up and Delivery Services: Guidance for Public Libraries

Our VDX interlibrary loan system has not been suspended system-wide, but due to closures many libraries have been on full VDX suspensions since mid-March. There has been no lending and very little ILL activity.

The decision to resume ILL activity is a local one. Each library faces a unique situation and will phase in ILL services at their discretion, adhering to safety protocols they have put in place to allow safe access to their collections.

• At this time, Libraries that are not currently suspended from borrowing could begin issuing ILL requests when they are ready to do so, with the understanding that not all libraries will be able to resume ILL operations at the same rate.
  
  
• Lenders that are not able to resume ILL operations can request a VDX suspension (or extension of a current suspension). Please contact helpdesk@olservice.ca.
  
  
• For libraries that do resume ILL services at this time, ILL operators should review their VDX Work Queues for requests that were in process prior to the closure. These requests will have gone through the VDX Rota and are most likely collected in the Idle/End of Rota/Not supplied categories of the Work Queue as a result of VDX suspensions and expiry of requests due to library closures. Click on the Details view of the request to review the original Rota and reissue requests to those locations that were unable to supply during the closure. Bear in mind that many libraries will phase in ILL services over time and may remain suspended. The request may again end up in your VDX Work Queue as Idle/end of Rota for your review.

Please feel free to contact helpdesk@olservice.ca with any further questions or concerns.