The Interbranch Return Service provided by Macao public libraries has been very popular among the readers. In view of the increasing residents in Northern District and Edificio do Lago in Taipa, so as to deepen the service, the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) and the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ) cooperate to launch the Interlibrary Return Service in July, bringing further convenience to the public. How does it work behind this popular service? We have invited the coordination team of the service to share with us!
The library staff first puts the returned books in the logistic box and informs the other department of the status of book collection. Then the books are transported to the Central Book Stack under IC for centralized processing through the weekly scheduled logistics service. The library staff further filters and distributes the books according to their original libraries. Within one to two working days in the fastest case, these books can be back to their original libraries for readers to borrow.
Readers can enjoy this service in the public libraries under IC (except Senado Library) as well as the Reading room in the Centre of Permanent Education and Reading room in the Lakeside Multi-Purpose Activity Centre under DSEJ. Since the library systems of the two departments are not compatible, the service needs to be processed by manual operation; therefore, readers have to visit the service desk during the time when the librarian is on duty to return interlibrary items.
As a member of the “Interlibrary Return Service” coordination team, Cheok Sio Ieng reveals that such cooperation of both departments brings more convenience to the public, and thus encourages reading.
