It's been a year since NMRLS first uttered the words "pre-printed delivery slips" and, since then, their use has really started to take hold in the region. Last March we profiled the Nevins Memorial Library in Methuen in our newsletter article entitled, "Is Your Hand Getting Cramped?" Here, we would like to focus on the Chelmsford Public Library.

Chelmsford Public Library is the second busiest library in the region when it comes to interlibrary loan. With her staff sending out nearly 2,000 items a week in delivery, Linda Robinson, Head of Circulation, saw the need for a more efficient method for completing the delivery routing slips. Despite her gut reaction of "horror" at the thought of having to find space for pre-printed slips, she and her staff, Linda Webb and Glynis Evans, devised a system that has helped streamline the process immensely.

The slip holders sit at two locations at the circulation desk. Pictured above, on a narrow counter above the main workspace of the desk, are eight 4-tiered plastic holders that hold pre-printed slips for all of the MVLC libraries. As with the Methuen system, when they have an item that requires a routing slip, they simply choose the appropriate slip, stamp the date, and attach it to the item. Three steps and they're done - NO writing at all!

The master slips are maintained in the organizer pictured above. It is the job of volunteers and/or library aides to copy, cut, and restock the bins when necessary.

Now that the system is established, everything is running quite smoothly. Pre-printed delivery routing slips are clear and easy to read. The system is also space efficient. The Chelmsford staff are benefiting from this quick method of "picking" slips and so too is the region with greater accuracy and speed of sorting.

For an electronic version of the routing slips, please visit http://www.nmrls.org/delivery/index.shtml.