A c t i o n f o r L i b r a r i e s — J u l y 2 0 0 4

IFLA ILL Vouchers Available through BCR

By Ann Schwab

IFLA ILL vouchers make it easy for libraries to pay and be paid for international interlibrary loans. When a lender agrees to accept a voucher as payment, the library keeps the voucher to be reused at a later date when it is a borrower. Vouchers have unlimited validity and can be reused several times. If a library is a net lender, it may redeem excess vouchers for a refund equal to the total purchase price of the vouchers.

With the move of the IFLA voucher program from the British Library to IFLA headquarters in The Hague, vouchers are now available only in Euros. They come in two denominations: EUR 8 (full voucher) and EUR 4 (half voucher). Lenders are encouraged to accept a standard payment of one full voucher for supplying one loan or a photocopy of up to 15 pages. Libraries may charge more or less as they see fit.

While IFLA requires a minimum purchase of EUR 100 worth of vouchers, libraries may purchase as many or as few vouchers as they need through BCR and have the cost billed to their monthly invoice. The BCR voucher prices are in U.S. dollars and take into account the exchange rate at the time of BCR's purchase, bank charges, IFLA surcharges and handling fees. The cost of a full voucher through BCR is $12 per voucher. The cost of a half voucher though BCR is $6 per half voucher. Libraries may order online at www.bcr.org/resourcesharing/ifla-vouchers.html. A complete list of IFLA voucher participants is available at www.ifla.org/VI/2/p1/partcpnt.htm.

For more information on IFLA vouchers, contact BCR's Ann Schwab (aschwab@bcr.org).

Next Article | Previous Article | Table of Contents | BCR Publications