HCPL is Hopping!

We recently had the chance to visit with Harris County Public Library (HCPL) in Houston, Texas. We are proud to say that HCPL is currently the heaviest user of the TAE/TExpress courier service! They ship about 1,000 packages via the courier each month, not including other ILL items that go out through other delivery services. All of this work is managed by 3 staff members: Anthony, Linda and Gio.

Anthony was kind enough to give us a tour of their new facility and show us their ILL and shipping dock areas. Their work space is an organizational designer's dream! With 26 locations to serve, the ILL team has organized their work areas efficiently to get the job done.

We also learned about the amazing work HCPL staff did after Hurricane Harvey to recover and save thousands of books from flooded branch libraries. They lost thousands of books including between 50 to 70 ILL items. The ILL team spent about three and half months tracking down ILL items and managed the reimbursement of lost or damaged materials. (Thank you to the libraries that waived fees for lost materials due to the hurricane!)

HCPL is still hard at work restoring four branches that were closed after Harvey. One of these branches, the Barbara Bush Branch Library, was one of their busiest branches. Recovery is underway and two branches are set to re-open again in April. For more details about the HCPL recovery efforts visit the HCLP site at http://www.hcpl.net/.

HCPL's top "go to libraries" for borrowing items via the courier are Mid-Continent Public Library (a MALA library), Central Arkansas Library System and Oklahoma State University. Half of their borrowing items tend to be AV – CDs and DVDs for music and movies. And yes, graphic novels are still a popular item to borrow and lend. HCPL's top lending libraries are Metropolitan Library System, Houston Public Library and San Antonio Public Library.

Thank you Anthony, Linda and Gio!