Libraries are all about sharing and equitable access to knowledge. If it was up to librarians there would be no barriers to access for any reason. So I sympathize with S. Zwolle’s frustrations in her letter of Dec. 12 at being unable to access St. Albert Public Library’s licensed digital resources due to her status as a non-resident member.
Unfortunately, unlike books, DVDs or other physical formats, which are purchased and owned outright by libraries, libraries license digital resources from third party vendors. The licensing agreements between libraries and vendors generally restrict use of the resources to residents of the community. As such, we are not able to give non-residents access to our electronic resources. Alberta public libraries are municipal services, funded primarily by the local municipality and by extension its taxpayers. The Province of Alberta also contributes to funding public libraries, focused primarily on supporting resource sharing by Alberta libraries so that all Albertans have equitable access to libraries. The ME Card Alberta-wide borrowing service recently introduced by the province was initiated by the Metro Edmonton Federation of Libraries, of which St. Albert Public Library is a member. The ME Card enables easy sharing of physical resources like books across Alberta, but as noted above, vendor agreements restrict the sharing of digital resources. The best bet for access to digital resources would be to speak to your home library, Morinville Public Library, which is part of the Northern Lights Library System. As Gale Courses is a very recent acquisition for us, it may be a resource that your library is looking at purchasing in the future.
Peter Bailey, St Albert
