Hi all,
Thank you for all your responses. Lots of you replied to me expressing an interest in postal loans overseas I thought I'd do a general response to the list. It seems that lots of you are thinking about loans overseas but haven't made a decision yet. Below is a summary of responses.
Suzanne White
Coventry University
1) One library is posting up to 4 items to distance learners and part-time researchers only, anywhere in the world (this is a recent development - prior to that it was just Europe) Loans are for 6 weeks, the user is responsible for postage back and it's recommended that they ask for a certificate of posting. There is no charge for posting out.
2) Another university library posts long loan items to staff, postgraduate or research students living abroad. The library pays for the cost of posting out but the borrower is responsible for paying for the return of the book.
3) Another university library will post abroad for a fee of £3 but will not post to areas they consider unsafe. This service started last November and there hasn't been a wide take up of the service.
4) One university library used to post books out to distance learners overseas but stopped when censorship issues in Saudi Arabia caused long delays. They have restarted the service though for a specific overseas student. Postage to destinations such as Mauritius (depending on connections between local planes) and The Falklands took a long time to arrive.
5) Finally, another library is posting 1 week or 4 week loan items for a loan period of 4 weeks. They do not charge for the service but the policy of non-charging is under review. They get an average of 30 requests per month and they estimate that UK postage is £5 per item and overseas approx £15 per item using insured post. So far only one item has been lost (and that was UK), no non returns at all.
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