Technical Services
Centralized Purchasing and Billing
The System serves as a centralized purchasing office for books ordered by member libraries. By pooling orders, the System
obtains larger discounts from supplies than could an individual library. Libraries are billed monthly for the discounted cost of
books and other items shipped to them by the System. A record of expenditures from Book Plan funds is maintained at the
System for each library. The acquisitions function is now automated for improved records and reports on the more than 36,000
items ordered annually.
Centralized Cataloging and Processing
Books and other materials are ordered through the System. All materials are cataloged and processed without charge to member libraries. The System
joined OCLC in 1979 for use in searching for cataloging information and production of catalog cards. When books and
other materials arrive at a member library, they have pockets and are stamped
with the library's name. Local libraries have to do little, if any, processing.
