Your WISCAT Impact Stories - Reaching Beyond Local Collections

Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Library Services staff recently asked for your stories and positive impacts of WISCAT. These stories drive home the human connection that libraries bring people and communities together. Interlibrary loan is a logistically complex activity, but each person’s interaction with it is usually simple. Even through these simple acts, our community members find they are able to open up and ask library staff with help in getting library materials they need. The result is that library staff consistently go the extra mile to find that item and deliver library materials to you with care and respect. Below is a sample of the many stories we’ve heard from you about how interlibrary loan and your local library impact your lives. These interlibrary loan transactions are great examples of why Wisconsin libraries are a smart investment.

Please continue to share your WISCAT impact stories using the Contact Us form.

WISCAT Impact Stories

“Whoever found this movie for me - many thanks! Our friend was in it at the age of 11, and this is the first time he's seen it since then. He's 73! Many, many thanks!”

- Beaver Dam Community Library Patron

"There was recently a Star Wars enthusiast who was desperate in trying to find a certain audiobook on CD recording of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. The version he wanted was the radio drama version featuring original movie sound effects and music as well as bonus tracks of commentary during the recording sessions by the director and some of the actors. We own one of the only copies in the country, and were the one library that was willing to lend it to him through an ILL. Through phone call discussions with the patron, the joy that he experienced and fulfillment he felt was paramount. It was an honor to not only serve this patron with his need but also to have an added level of satisfaction by hearing how ecstatic he was to finally listen to that radio drama recording. The personal touch is sometimes lost with ILLs. We conduct most of our work online without much human interaction (excluding our own patrons with requests). Being able to hear how elated he was is something I will never forget. It reminds me that while I can't experience the satisfaction of every patron across the state, I know that this job is making a difference to people - no matter how small."

- Anna McCallum, Assistant Director, Horicon Public Library

“As a family caregiver for an elderly parent I don’t always have the funds to purchase the books I wish. Because of this fact I rely heavily on my local libraries.

I especially value the interlibrary loan system that allows me to greatly broaden my reading, and thus my educational horizons. I have requested and read hundreds of books through interlibrary loan; from cookbooks to martial arts philosophy and history, to Roman and Greek philosophers to the history of American democratic thinking.

I have received books from the collections of universities, the Library of Congress, and regional historical societies around the country. I have read books from Texas, Alaska, Washington DC to California.

The interlibrary loan system allows a person to read small obscure books that few, if only one, library may have. Its value lies in its ability to allow someone in small-town Wisconsin to have access to the great libraries of this country; from the UW system and SUNY of New York to smaller private colleges and technical education systems. The knowledge and opportunities available to someone through our libraries and the interlibrary loan system is so vast that it is incalculable.

I hope my thoughts about the system helps you see how truly valuable it is to many people. Where we live and how much we earn doesn’t limit what we can read and access. I hope you will see the value the system has to much of rural Wisconsin who don’t have access to large national libraries or the funds to buy for our own libraries.

I hope you will continue to fund the interlibrary loan system at its current level, or even, if lucky, increase the funding. Many voices who wouldn’t often speak up on such issues as these are listening for your reply.”

- Brian, Chippewa Falls Public Library Patron

“Here at the Bayfield Carnegie Library, we love our WISCAT! We are very regular users, both as a lender and as a borrower. As a very rural system of mostly small libraries, the access WISCAT provides is incredibly important. We are making requests daily, and filling requests as soon as they come. We have patrons in the community working on research, and we have people looking to read perhaps more obscure fiction. The school district here also relies on WISCAT [interlibrary loan].

WISCAT opens a door to an array of items available only in larger cities and university systems. And for that we are exceedingly grateful.”

- The Bayfield Librarians

“I am the Reference Librarian for The Hayner Public Library District in Alton, IL. I have a patron who is trying to read the book Am I Alive? by Ruth Zandstra. She is distantly related to the author and is interested in reading it as part of a larger family history project she’s working on. This is a very difficult book to get your hands on – impossible, really! – but, according to OCLC and your online catalog, Southwest Tech owns it. I understand that there is probably a very good reason you aren’t listed as a supplier in OCLC, but I am reaching out as a last-ditch effort to see if it would be possible to borrow through interlibrary loan. Thanks!”

This story demonstrates the human connection of a patron compiling family history research and needing to ask the library for help. The librarian goes the extra mile by doing the research, finding a potential lender for the item their patron needs, and then going a step further to kindly ask if that owning library was willing to share their resource even though it wasn’t marked as an item that they regularly share. Through interlibrary loan, library patrons are able to access materials from catalogs across the state and even across the country! Interlibrary loan is people helping people!

- Shared by Margaret Gardner, Southwest Wisconsin Technical College

“While I work hard during the day, I like to relax with a movie at night. Quite often, some of the titles I’m interested in aren’t available in our library system, and with the ILL availability, I can watch some of the ‘classic’ movies that are slowly disappearing from the shelves. While not all are classics, some are just good action films that have caught my attention, and allows me to enjoy the evening relaxing with a good movie.

During the day, when walking, or doing quiet work, I usually have an audio book playing for my entertainment. Once I find an author that I enjoy, and many times these have series associated with them, ILL allows me to fill in the voids that are in the Monarch Library system. Filling those voids allows the continuity of the characters in the book series.

When I can’t find an item in our Monarch Library System, the first place I turn to is ILL, which I am so grateful to have at my disposal."

- Horicon Public Library Patron

The library's Interlibrary loan service has provided me with a wealth of information and entertainment for almost 20 years. As a college student, I was able to save money by requesting class materials. As a parent and community member, I have been able to request materials about a plethora of topics and ideas that our local system doesn't have the opportunity to purchase. ILL has also helped me grow closer with family. I was able to locate region-specific materials for my older family members when they wanted to learn more about family history and locations.

- Jenna, Chippewa Falls Public Library Patron

“I make use of my library’s Interlibrary Loan services frequently for both personal and professional reasons. In my personal life, I appreciate being able to hear an interview with an author and have access to their book even when it is not something that my local library is likely to purchase. I also read a lot of poetry and often use interlibrary services to explore poets who are new to me. Professionally I am the manager of a small department, but came into the position with minimal management experience, so I am always looking to further my knowledge of ways to balance supporting my employees in their work while following best practices for my field.”

- Jessi, Chippewa Falls Public Library Patron

"When my father started living with me off and on at age 92 one of the activities he enjoyed was re-reading several book series that he’d read years ago. Among the series he liked were Horatio Hornblower, Amelia Peabody, Didius Falco, and Sharpe’s Rifles. He found it much easier to read Large Print copies which needed to be requested using WisCat and ILL services through our local library. Though he’s gone now, I can still remember how happy and content he was while reading those books."

- Horicon Public Library Patron

“I am immensely grateful for the WISCAT/Interlibrary loans service. As I’ve got older the challenges of changing vision and memory fluctuations tend to lead me to reminiscing and seeking the strongholds that grounded me in earlier years—soul music, artists, health teachers, favorite authors. People like Gordon Parks, Sam Cooke, and more. Their works are often hard to find anymore. This system allows them to be found.

Also, I use this system to increase and enhance a broader, more multi-cultural view of the world and have received many books, DVDs and CDs that help that happen. This aspect of the library system continues to enhance my learning without the excessive cost of returning to school or taking individual classes. For someone on a limited income that is essential.

Where would I be without this service—less open minded, less intelligent, sadder, more lonely, less excited about life. These are all the things they warn senior citizens about. This system helps me stay healthier in many ways.

I have used this system for decades—in my younger and middle working years in Milwaukee, and often in my time as a senior adult in Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls. Personally, I would be very lost without it as options for healing and learning.

And, if I may add, the people who help us through this system at the Chippewa Falls Public Library are extremely adept at their work and kinder than most people I know. Thank you.”

- Susan, Chippewa Falls Public Library Patron

The interlibrary loan support provided by the WISCAT system, DPI interlibrary loan librarians, the WISCAT technical coordinator, and the ILL coordinator is made possible through a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).