There will be no limit, apparently, to the scope of inter-library loans
in California. Each library at present makes an effort to loan anything
asked of it by any other library. For example, the state library buys
no fiction, but from the union catalogs of the county free libraries
which is located at the state library, it is possible to tell where
a certain book is located and to direct one to the other for a rush
request of fiction.
Rare books are loaned by library to library and used by the borrower at
the library.
Newspapers it is not necessary now to loan as by cameragraphing the
needed extract from them, the expense, wear and tear, and risk of such
loans are avoided. The same applies to articles in unbound or bound
periodicals. Cameragraphing an article in a periodical also makes
unnecessary the duplicating of certain periodicals because of some
especially needed article. Cameragraphing is also economical in that it
keeps the files in the library and so more material is always available
for reference use.
Even reference books, however, are loaned or borrowed frequently to
meet certain needs. So the scope is of necessity a matter of judgment
of the particular case in question.