Public libraries are all about sharing. We share books and other resources with the community by making them freely available to everyone who wants to borrow them. We also share with other public libraries through a service called “Interlibrary Loan”. This refers to borrowing books from outside of Prince Edward County as well as loaning our own books to other libraries.

As you can probably imagine, even with six branches, it’s not possible to have every book that has ever been published on the shelves. If there is a book you would like to read that you do not see on the library catalogue, ask at the library. If the book is new, we will try to purchase it for the library collection when possible. Requests like this make up the majority of the books the library buys in a year. You can also submit your own requests to purchase at peclibrary.org/rfp

If it’s an older title – and in this case that means more than about a year old – we turn to interlibrary loan. We send a request to nearby libraries, and a library that has the book available will send it by postal mail. Once it arrives at your branch, we’ll call you to let you know it’s in.

Recently the service has experienced a few hiccups as, in the case of unfortunate timing, new province-wide software and the Canada Post strike occurred at the same time.

Things seem to be working smoothly again, but if you are experiencing any difficulties with interlibrary loan, please let us know by calling Barbara Sweet at (613) 476-5962 or emailing ceo@peclibrary.org.

Any feedback on the new system is helpful to us as we are learning right along with you and new “glitches” have been discovered.

Some of the most frequent users of Interlibrary Loan are book clubs. Groups across the County rely on interlibrary loan to access multiple copies of their chosen title at one time. If you are a member of a book club who would like to receive this service, give us a call at (613) 476-5962 for more information. Your group does not have to be one of the many who meet at the library to be eligible for the service.

NEW HOURS
Each branch of the library now has extended hours to help make visits more convenient for you. In response to feedback at recent focus groups that people would like to visit on their way home from a 9-5 job, most branches are open one night a week until 6 p.m., with Bloomfield open until 7 p.m. on Tuesdays. Visit peclibrary.org to see the complete schedule of new hours.

Prince Edward County offers six library branches with programs and services for everyone. Visit peclibrary.org to find upcoming events, the latest new books, and more.